Search for an Angel
by formerAnnie
Summary: As the Tenth Doctor struggles to return to the TARDIS for his regeneration, he knows he's going to die alone. But, when he falls, someone catches him. (Companion to 'Watcher of Angels')
1. Vale Dacem

Wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey. I apologize if anything is confusing order-wise, but this is Doctor Who, so… This story occurs in order for the Doctor, generally. I'm planning on tying it in with a Supernatural companion/sequel; however, they should be separate enough that you don't have to be a fan of one to read the other. Enjoy!

Vale Dacem

" _We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep."_

 _The Doctor struggled to his feet and shuffled through the snow. Alone. The TARDIS seemed so far away. His one constant companion and she couldn't even help him in this. He was alone._

 _All the companions. All the struggles. All the death and suffering and destruction for this limited universe. For what? In the end, the Time Lord would always be alone. He could forget. He could cling on to the memory of a lost love or a dear friend. All gone. In this life alone, he had lost so many, no matter how hard he tried to save them._

 _And he always gave his life for them, in one way or another – always to save mortals who had probably never seen the glory of his people. Earth was safe yet again. He had saved his dearest companions one last time and said his goodbyes, but they were gone. They would all move on, but he would perish – become nothing more than a memory in back of an old man's head. He would be gone and a new man in his shoes would go sauntering off. There was so much that he still wanted to see with these eyes. He felt like his life wasn't complete._

 _His mind was scrambling, almost completely void of the control that should have matched his age. After what happened with Wilf, he had practically experienced what would be considered a mental breakdown. Maybe it was time for him to go._

 _The Doctor stumbled again, wracked by pain…but something caught him before he hit the ground. He grasped at the arm that was tightly wrapped around his chest. A blue light danced before his eyes as his limbs gave up the good fight. He thought he saw someone, but he couldn't be sure._

"So, what do you think?"

The Doctor blinked a few times and quickly took in his surroundings. A restaurant – possibly 1940s Earth.

"What?"

The girl sitting across from him laughed and sipped her coffee. She had brown hair in a pixie cut, big brown eyes with black eyeliner, and a sweet, flawless face. She was tall, skinny, and awkward-looking. The stranger bit her bottom lip to hide her grin at the Time Lord's look of bewilderment. He quickly checked his reflection in a spoon. Had he cheated death yet again? Was he going mad?

"Something wrong, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked back at the woman with a slack jaw. She was wearing a medium blue, short-sleeved shirtdress with a sash belt and four wooden buttons. Her high-heel shoes were flicking about flirtatiously under the table. His own clothes showed no signs of the abuse he had put them through while fighting the other Time Lords.

"Excuse me. Do I… Do I know you?"

Another enigmatic grin was the answer. She seemed familiar – like he had seen her in passing once.

"Not yet, that I know of."

"Brilliant. Another one."

"Ah! I suppose you met Professor Song?" The Doctor snarled in frustration and scrubbed at his hair. The woman cleared her throat to catch the waitress' attention. "Uh, two slices of apple pie, please." She sighed as the waiter walked away. "I love England, but there's somethin' about good ol' American pie that you can't find anywhere else."

Something suddenly became clear. The Doctor leaned back with a victorious smirk.

"You don't happen to know Captain Jack Harkness, do you?"

"Ha! The man just says 'hello' and you're a lost cause. I've been traveling with him a bit, actually."

"That's Jack." The stranger seemed to forget the subject when the pie arrived. "I've seen you before."

"Maybe in a past life," she replied while chewing. "At least, that's what you told me. I think. It's all quite confusing. Now, eat your pie, sweet cheeks. On me." He just stared at her. "I won't answer any of your questions until you finish your pie, sir."

He begrudgingly obeyed, all the while studying his surroundings. It looked like 1940s England. It smelled like 1940s England. 19…46, to be exact.

He pushed the plate away.

"Well, Time Lord, I guess you really want those answers. Shoot."

"Ten minutes ago –"

" – I saw you." He stared at her blankly. "Just joking. Please continue."

"Ten. Minutes. Ago. I was _dying._ I was _regenerating._ But then…"

"Someone caught you? You suddenly woke up here?"

" _Exactly._ Care to explain?"

"Walk with me." She paid for the pie and led him onto the sidewalk. "Post World War Two. The future is bright and the streets… Well, the streets can be perfect or filthy, depending on where you go. Some people act like the world is safe; others are looking over their shoulders constantly." She suddenly stopped with her arms crossed. "This is one of my favorite times on Earth. So much emotion. So much chaos. So much hope. And they're all so clueless. I use to be like that until… Sometimes, I wish…" She shook head. "Don't you ever wish you could be that innocent?"

The Doctor, hands in his pockets, tolerantly replied,

"Frequently. But, after all I've been through, I remember I did save some of them, and I try to convince myself that it's worth it."

"You've saved all of them, Doctor. Countless times. I've saved a few, but… Compared to you, I'm an insect."

The Doctor breathed a laugh.

"I have yet to meet someone who actually has that little meaning. How do you go about saving people? Do you destroy planets, like I've done?"

"Oh, no, nothing so drastic," she waved him off.

"Come on! You're one of those rash Americans. You people are more than happy to shoot first and save people later."

"Please. Don't let the stereotype fool you. There are plenty of Americans who think the cops will save them from anything, anywhere, and anytime." She winked mischievously. "I, however, happen to know that monsters are real. I did almost get arrested a little while ago, but that's for another time – fortieth century – bad business."

"Who _are_ you? And what are we doing here?"

The girl suddenly looked thoughtful, her smile going crooked and eyes looking at the ground as she hooked her hands into the pockets of her dress.

"Determined, aren't you? You saved me once or twice– a long time ago, far in the future. You were there for me when I suddenly found myself completely alone – you saved me – and it's time I returned that favor. Took me long enough. You told me a little secret, Doctor – how terrified you were to die alone today. Of all of the times you changed faces, you said that this one was perhaps the hardest. While, in the future, you won't see it the same… There were so many times when you wouldn't have time to really dwell on the fact that you were dying; and you so often had your companions with you. But, this time, you get dosed with radiation that kills you slowly enough for you to visit a good many of your companions. And you still die alone. Don't tell me I'm wrong."

"Who _are_ you?" he protested.

"But even through all of this – your grief, your pain – you show your true colors, Doctor. You saved an entire civilization and, perhaps, the universe from the chaos of the Time War without even a thank you. And you survived. But then you gave your life…for one old man." She smiled kindly. "Never cruel nor cowardly."

How did she know him or any of this?

"This place – it's not real, is it?"

She shrugged.

"It's in my head, but I needed somewhere we could talk where time didn't matter so much for you. I'm sorry, but… The reality is that you're still lying in the snow, dying in my arms."

"Why are you here?"

The woman held out her hand and waited until he took it.

"Because I don't want you to die alone, Doctor. Now, come along."

 _The Doctor felt the arm yank him upwards, back onto his feet. He could still hear the Oods' song, but now he could at least see straight. The TARDIS was right ahead. The living crutch at his side ensured that he kept going. He hadn't cheated death. He was still going… But he wasn't alone._

 _He managed to reach the door and stagger inside. He tossed aside his trenchcoat, steadied himself, went for the console, and started flipping switches. He could feel it coming. He was losing himself. The man he was…was dying. And he was…terrified. He was forgetting something… But it wasn't the trembling horror he felt only minutes previously. He remembered the woman._

" _The regeneration can be dangerous. It might not be safe for you."_

 _The stranger sniffed a laugh and tapped on a device on her wrist – a vortex manipulator. She was decked out in blue jeans and a black hoodie, and a light web of white scarring stretched around her eyes. She looked older than before, and her hair was long and red._

" _It's only dangerous if you're not trying to protect someone. But I'll be long gone before this place goes up in flames. Besides, I shouldn't be the first face you see. Technically, I shouldn't have been the last face you saw, but…oh well!"_

 _The TARDIS was off and he could see the effects of his regeneration already._

" _Why?" he questioned, his voice empty._

 _He didn't know this woman. Maybe he might as well have been alone. He looked at his hands – no cuts, bruises, or scars anywhere. He would never see those hands again. It would be someone else. He would be remembered, but it wouldn't really be him. All the passion he had known would be someone else's story. He would simply be…gone. He looked at the woman one last time; her smile was sad and contemplative._

" _Trust me, you will be remembered. Goodbye, Doctor. I wish I could see this you during happier times, but…I suppose we'll run into each other again, in another life."_

" _I understand, but still…" The Doctor raised his hand up, staring somberly as it started. There was no escaping it this time. His time was over. No more. "I don't even know your name."_

" _You'll find out eventually. I wish I could stay, but I…I can't. I know you're scared, but you're going to be_ brilliant _. See you around, Doctor. And let me just say...thank you. For everything."_

 _He had looked away only for a second to glance back at his console, and she was gone. The crushing sense of loneliness returned, but he was a little more at peace. He didn't even have the chance to thank her._

" _I don't want to go," the Doctor sighed._


	2. America!

America!

"Mr. and Mrs. Pond!"

By the time Amy and Rory arrived in the control room, the Doctor was leaning victoriously against the console with that boyish grin of his, ever the awkward giraffe. The Ponds, having barely had time to get any real clothes on, were hardly awake and hardly in the mood for being disturbed. Still. It was the Doctor.

"Doctor, we just finished our last excursion seven hours ago. Can't I get just a few more…?"

"Come on, Roryyyy! Where's your sense of adventure? Your wife looks plenty enthusiastic."

Indeed she did…

"So, Doctor," the redhead offered as she plopped down on a bench, "what do you have for us this time? Daleks? Cybermen? Space worms?"

"Noooo! We've had enough of those for a while, I think. I have found something so. Much. _Better_!" He scuttled to the front door and looked back with a lopsided grin. "Well? Come along, Ponds."

Rory reluctantly followed his wife out the door, trying and failing to tame his bedhead. Then he saw where they had landed.

"Uh, Doctor?" he queried, squinting at a sign. "So…better, in this case, means…Carthage – population 13,862?"

"Missouri, 2008. America!"

"This may seem silly and I don't know why I bother asking, but…why?"

"Need to look up an old friend, or…acquaintance or…person I saw in passing... Hm. That sounded better in my head." Spotting two men leaning against the back of a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, the Doctor tripped over to them. "Excuse me. I'm looking for someone. She's…"

"We're just passing through, pal. We don't really know anyone," the shorter one interrupted, taking a swig of his beer. While he was the smaller of the two, both men were intimidatingly large – over six feet and powerfully built.

"Sorry," shrugged the other one.

"What's with the bowtie?"

The Doctor twitched and straightened the item in question.

"Bowties are cool," he gushed. There was an awkward pause.

"No they're not." The shorter one suddenly smacked his friend in the shoulder, the color draining from his cheeks as he gazed at something in the distance. "Uh. Sam?"

"What? There's nothing there, Dean," said Sam. Dean took a massive swig of his drink. "What was it? Dean! Pardon the saying, but you look like you just saw a ghost."

"It was the…the…that weird 'you're gonna owe me big-time' chick." Dean clearly became frustrated at Sam's cluelessness and he started talking quickly. "Tall, skinny girl. Red hair. Always making fun of me? Before I went Down Under, we had that run-in with the psychopath demon that was catching people visiting cemeteries? Said it wanted a sacrifice and you were gonna go. She said she'd take care of it and the demon disappeared…along with her? Come on, Sammy! I'm not crazy. Well. Not _that_ kind of crazy."

Sam's furrowed eyebrows shot skyward. And none of this conversation was making any sense to the newcomers.

"Oh…right! How did…? I figured she got rid of it."

"Well, yeah, but…" A mixture of guilt and fright crossed over the man's face. "When I was… She…" The shorter one suddenly looked spooked and angry. "Hey. If she wants to talk, she can come talk. Right now, I'm starving."

"But, Dean, shouldn't we try…?"

"Nope. I am _not_ in the mood for guilt trips, Sam. And that is one chick I don't want to see right now. Pie?"

"Thank you!" cried the Time Lord. The men jumped, seemingly having forgotten about his presence.

The Doctor rushed off back into the TARDIS with the Ponds trailing behind him. He could hear the confused man where he had left him.

"Um…you're welcome? Wow. Weirdo."

* * *

"One year should do it. How about…Kentucky? Fried chicken! That sounds interesting. Haven't been there in a while."

"Doctor. You're mumbling again. Why _America_?"

"Just one moment!" he chirped, hopping over the railing and bolting out the door, whereupon he stood stock-still. Rory and Amy tolerantly leaned against the outside of the doorway to see whether the Time Lord would venture further or bolt back inside again. They seemed to be at the edge of a dark forest next to a rather depressing lake.

Amy yelped as a silver knife flew by, nearly taking her nose with it. The Doctor, however, looked like a kid in a candy shop when a woman with long dark hair shot headlong out of the trees and landed in the moss.

She was quickly followed by a hulking fellow with one arm hanging at an odd angle. Rory loudly gulped as the man stoically reset his arm with a nauseating _crunch_. Meanwhile, the woman whipped out a water bottle and doused him with it, completely oblivious to the observers. Her challenger screamed in agony, steam floating from his skin. Laughing darkly, she snatched up her knife and bolted toward a shack in the distance, the other stranger on her heels.

The Doctor skittered back into the TARDIS, muttering once again about footprints and things being 'wibbly-wobbly'.


	3. 40th Century Paradox

40th Century Paradox

"Doctor, this is our fourth random stop in past twenty-four hours and we've done nothing interesting, unless you count me nearly getting wiped out by a knife," Amy huffed, stomping out the door and leaning against the TARDIS.

"I thought it was pretty funny," Rory chuckled, though he suddenly found their surroundings very interesting under his wife's scowl. This time, they were in what looked like an inter-planetary market. Dozens of brightly colored stalls lined each street, as far as the eye could see.

"What are we looking for?"

The Doctor looked back at the couple with a strange look before returning and wringing his hands.

"It's a little complicated."

"And…when is it not complicated?" Rory laughed.

The man sighed reluctantly, his ancient eyes thoughtful.

"The last time I regenerated, I visited some of my old companions and was trying to get back to the TARDIS. I was going to die alone; that was the reality of it and…I was terrified – a selfish old man who could imagine all of the things he still wanted to do when his time was up. Understandable, it being me. I was particularly…vain, at the time. I fell and – and this _girl_ helped me. Said I shouldn't die alone. She was there until I regenerated, and then she was just gone. I haven't looked for her until now because…I didn't know where to start. What she did - it wasn't much, but it was enough to keep me from collapsing in terror and self-pity. The more I think about it, the more important that little action was."

The young woman in question suddenly appeared behind one of the stalls, a grin plastered on her face. This time, her hair was short and brown – just like when he had first seen her in her mind. She casually stood and walked by them, her focus on several customers down the road. The Doctor grabbed her arm to catch her attention, but there was no recognition in her eyes.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm…the Doctor."

Her eyebrows shot straight up and she gave the Time Lord a onceover. There were enough colored tapestries and the TARDIS was further in the alley, so she did not see the conspicuous blue box. The subtle scarring around her eyes crinkled when her eyebrows furrowed. How did she get those scars?

"The Doctor _I_ know is an old man. Not a puppy. However… Wait. Say something else."

"Have something specific in mind?" he preened.

She looked at his eyes more, suddenly smiling brightly, but a shout drew her attention back to the market and she bolted.

"See ya, Doc!"

* * *

"Did you give 'em the slip?" Jack panted, crouching behind one of the numerous market stalls.

His companion laughed and handed him a small, decorated wooden box.

"One time vortex manipulator successfully pilfered. We can either sell it, or keep it so that you don't have to tote me around all the time and I don't have to worry about being left in the thirty-third century…again."

Jack Harkness held in hands up jokingly in surrender.

"Hey. That was one time. And it wasn't my fault." A grin suddenly spread across his face. "Nice job, by the way."

The woman shrugged.

"I'm a natural team player. I think I ran into the Doctor. I didn't know his face, but his voice was so…" She shook herself and stood, but she was clearly dazed. "Now, shall we go and find more…?"

She cut off as a hooded figure ran into her. Looking her straight in the eyes, the red-headed stranger stuffed a note into the girl's hand, smiled, and walked away. When the duo looked, she had simply disappeared into the crowd.

"What was _that_ about?"

The other time-wanderer opened the note in shock.

"It was…me."

"What do mean it was you? If that's the case, you're risking a lot. Bad things can happen with two of the same people in the same time."

"I've never dyed my hair like that," she muttered, still reading. "She – me – is asking me to do something for the Doctor. He told me about this once – when he died alone – about how scared he was. Something I'll have to do someday, I suppose."

Slowly, she handed the note to Jack in wonder.

"If he told you, it must have…" He cut off as he started to read the letter. "Must be important."

"Apparently. I guess I owe him more than I thought, which was a lot already."

Jack's eyes widened as he reached the end and looked up.

"Not sure what you're supposed to do, but I guess some day you have to make sure he doesn't die alone."


	4. Jennifer Webb

Jennifer Webb

The Ponds had gone to bed and the Doctor was still searching. Sometimes, his stops were random (mostly when he ignored what the TARDIS tried to do); other times, he was drawn to a certain place where the mystery girl had been (thanks to the TARDIS). Once more, he stepped outside the time machine and sighed at the sight of an empty thirty-third century museum.

"Hello? Mystery girl? Anyone?"

Nothing but silence. And his spidey senses weren't tingling. Perhaps this was another false alarm. Sadly, he went back into his ship. She hadn't recognized him last time. Perhaps this incarnation of the Doctor was simply fated to not meet the woman who had saved him from dying alone. Never again.

The Time Lord was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the desperate shout from outside.

* * *

She had heard it. That sighing, wheezing, screeching noise. That hopeful noise. The brunette tottered through the halls, holding her left arm up to shield her watering eyes and her other hand holding her gun ready. A shot from a plasma rifle from the right had grazed her face before she could jump out of the way, leaving her half-blind from the pain and swelling. She prayed she didn't have permanent damage to her eyes. Hadn't she left this insanity behind? Jack had disappeared – whether he was captured or had abandoned her, she could never tell.

She spotted it through her tears. That blue box! She ran faster as the engine started whining again. No! She didn't dare lose it. The men who owned this dump heap weren't at all happy about her and Jack breaking in, and she didn't want to discover the repercussions.

* * *

"Come on, ol' girl. Let's go." The Doctor paused to scratch his head when a few knobs simply refused to budge. "Well that's odd. Crazy ship. There's. Nothing. Here."

Determined, he flipped a few more switches and kicked one of the levers.

* * *

"Doctor!" she screamed. "Doctor!"

An unseen ledge caused the runner to trip and close her eyes for a moment as the pain faded. When she opened them, the TARDIS was gone and her pursuers were rounding the corner with guns trained on her back. She didn't bother looking up. She couldn't fight them, and they would either capture or kill her. She had a very matter-of-fact perspective on death. She had faced it enough times. If it happened, it happened.

"I'll watch her, lads. Check the perimeter." She suddenly found herself being helped up by a powerful-looking woman with wild blond hair and playful eyes. "All right there, dearie?"

"How did you get them to leave?"

"Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works like a charm. Best get a move on before it wears off, shall we?"

"Wait. Who are you?"

"The name's Professor Song. The Doctor asked me to get you somewhere a little safer." She smiled at the younger girl's confusion. "He won't realize for another twenty years or so that he missed you by mere seconds. 'I just remembered that I heard her and didn't notice until now!' he babbled. Oh, that man… Now." She grabbed the patient's hand and fiddled with the time-manipulator on her own wrist. "Might I suggest snagging one of these for yourself?"

In the blink of eye, they were gone.

* * *

"River, you're an angel!"

"Doctor, do I look like your personal delivery boy?"

"No," he waved, "you're a bit chesty for a delivery boy. I've sent a message to Jack. Seems he made a quick stop and lost track of _time_." The Doctor guffawed until he realized that no one else was amused by his bad joke. "Come on! That was hilarious! She was in the thirty-third century; he was in the twentieth… No? Wow. Tough crowd. Anyway."

With his thoughts finally a little less scattered, he finally turned to his guest and lost focus all over again upon seeing her injury. While Rory examined her and Amy handed over an icepack, River was staring expectantly at her husband.

"The people she was fleeing managed to get a shot at her before I could intervene."

"Her condition isn't life-threatening," Rory reported calmly in the background, "but her vision might be another matter. We can't tell until the swelling goes down. Amy, in my bag… Oh, thank you. This might sting a bit, but it'll help the pain and swelling."

The girl wasn't crying, but she was still trembling from the pain and her eyes were practically swollen shut. The Doctor was almost relieved when they were covered with a bandage.

"I didn't expect our first proper meeting quite like this," he muttered regretfully.

River squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"She's scared and she needs you, Doctor. Go talk to her. I know a good hospital."

The Doctor knelt down in front of the girl as his companions backed away. A ghost of a smile appeared on her masked face upon hearing the wheezing of the TARDIS taking off. River had purposefully left the brakes on… She jumped a little when he cupped her cold hands in his own.

"Doctor?" she whispered, squeezing his hands tighter.

"It's me," he replied softly. "Don't think you've seen this face yet, though."

"Don't think I'll be seeing much of anything," she grumbled sarcastically.

"Spoiler alert: You'll have excellent eyesight for a long time yet." A sigh of guarded relief. "You know, I've been hopping all over time and space to try finding you. Never had a proper introduction yet."

"Oh, you'll get the chance," she laughed.

"What's your name?"

"Jennifer Webb."

"How did you end up running around with Jack Harkness, anyhow?"

"Not really much of a story there. We were running, and Jack and I weren't fast enough. You left us behind. Didn't mean to, though. Time is a complicated thing. I wanted to see the universe, but I've been getting an unexpected back road tour. I don't really have any regrets." She hesitantly reached out and touched his head. Her icy fingers did a slow outline of his face before she seemed satisfied. "You're younger."

"Oh," he cringed, "don't tell me I go grey!"

"Spoilers, sweetie," River quipped from behind him, having just noiselessly landed the TARDIS.

The Doctor gave annoyed huff before turning back to his new friend.

"You know, I've seen you a few times and… You do quite a lot of running."

"I learned from the best."

"Well, Jennifer Webb, everything will be all right. It has been a pleasure." He helped her stand and gave her hand one last squeeze. He finally had the chance to say it. "And, Jennifer… _thank you_ for _everything_."

"No, Doctor." She laughed knowingly. "Thank you."


	5. Scars of Time

Scars of Time

 _ZAP!_

The woman stood frozen in place for a moment, resisting the urge to throw up. Finally, she stood upright and lowered the soft hood attached to her black leather jacket, revealing deep red shoulder-length hair. Where was this? She checked the time manipulation device on her wrist. 1990, Midwestern United States. She had put in the first coordinates that came to mind, but why here? Her enhanced instinct brought her here, so there must have been a reason. She needed help.

She looked in what seemed like a dozen different directions at once, and the webbed scarring around the right side of her face crinkled as she narrowed her eyes. She was in an open field with rows of dried corn on one side and a pumpkin patch on the other. She walked behind the line of bored and supportive parents, noting the dozens of children in the pumpkin patch. Halloween season. She considered trying somewhere else, but she didn't know how many more trips she could afford. She had to find the Doctor. She would pay a fortune to see the Time Lord's reaction to what she did during her time on Earth.

"Dean, go watch your brother."

"Why do we have to come to this stupid _pumpkin patch_ anyway?"

"Because I promised your brother. Now, go."

The brown-haired boy rolled his eyes and meandered into the field.

"Yes, sir."

"Tough crowd, huh?" the woman asked as she got closer to the tough-looking guy.

A smile crept onto his face and wrinkles appeared on the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, but their good kids. Name's John."

"Jennifer," she replied, shaking his hand. "Whatcha hunting?"

John casually covered the pistol on his belt with his coat.

"Just protection."

"Please. I can smell a hunter a mile off. The gun and the big bag of salt in your front seat made it a fair guess."

"Who are you?" John asked, now on guard.

"Just a friend passing through. Good luck."

Jennifer picked her way along the path, not really heading in any particular direction. It would be a while before she would want to travel again. Soon, the little boy called 'Sam' escaped from his brother's watchful eye and stopped near her.

"Do you know my dad?" he asked curiously.

Jennifer smiled and crossed her arms to hide the fact that her hands were shaking.

"Not really. You should get _that_ pumpkin before anyone snatches it up," she pointed.

The boy smiled brightly.

"Thanks!"

As Jen watched her apparent new friend bound off into the pumpkin patch, a suspicious blue box fell into her line of vision near the trees. She had been right after all!

Without a second thought, she sprinted off after the police box.

* * *

"There! That should do it!"

The Doctor emerged from under the TARDIS's console platform and jogged up the stairs to check the results. He, however, paused upon realizing that he was holding a large handful of multicolored wires that he had disconnected and forgotten to put back.

"Oh. Well. You didn't need those anyway."

He tossed the wires aside and snapped his suspenders with a victorious laugh.

Right, the squeak in the TARDIS front door. He would have to fix that too.

Wait. What brought that up?

The Doctor froze in the middle of retying his bowtie and peered around the console towards the front door. A figure hesitantly came up the stairs and into view. She grinned broadly, her hair barely concealing the crinkling of her scars. She was lovelier than ever! But he hesitated.

"Doctor?" she asked in that wonderful, grating American accent.

He froze again before it suddenly hit him.

"You know me?" he gestured, getting more excited. "She knows me. She knows me!"

With another laugh, the Time Lord ran and picked the woman up and spun her around. She was still grinning from ear-to-ear when he set her down.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here, Doctor."

"You changed your hair! It's long and red and… I mean, I like it."

Jennifer Webb laughed,

"Jack and I had a bet, and I lost." Suddenly, she was serious again. "What about the Ponds? Nothing's happened to them, has it?"

"No, no. I'm just giving them some space," he said happily before his expression darkened for a moment. "I didn't want to end up standing over their graves."

"I see…" She stared at the ground in discomfort.

"Ooh, you know, I only learned your name at our last meeting."

"You mean when I got these scars?" she laughed, pointing to the white webbing on the right side of her face. Back to happy conversation! "Wow. That was…about two years ago. I was twenty-two…had been traveling with Jack for almost a year. So, I met you…three and a half-ish…years ago. Last time I saw you was in that interplanetary market."

"I assume Jack got my message and found you again."

"Oh yes," she waved him off. "My injuries were almost healed, so I gave him a good verbal thrashing and we ran off for much more trouble making."

"How did you end up back on Earth? In 1990, of all times?"

She shrugged and avoided eye contact for a brief second.

"Taking a break for a little while. Checking up on old acquaintances before hitting the road again." She paused with a sudden switch in character. "Doctor…if I may ask, have you seen _my_ grave?"

"No. I have no intention of being anywhere near or involved with that, so don't get any ideas," he accused. Then, "Wait, did something happen? Are you all right?"

He switched on his sonic screwdriver with the intention of scanning Jennifer, but she gently pushed his hand aside.

"I'm _fine_ , Doctor. Just curious. Got it from you, you know." The Doctor proudly smiled at that. "Anyway, I was just about to go and –"

"Time is all relative, Jennifer Webb. How about just you and me? One little proper adventure. I'll have you back in time for pie." Replacing the cover on the TARDIS console, he didn't wait for an answer. "How about post-World War Two London. We'll stop off for some tea, maybe start some trouble? You'll like that!"

While Jen started chuckling at his antics, the Time Lord continued flitting about.

"1940s? I'm afraid I didn't bring my historic wardrobe with me."

"It's the TARDIS! I'm sure she already cooked something up. Might provide some inspiration someday. Go upstairs. First door on the left. Just don't take any of my bowties. I need to go make sure I didn't accidentally delete the swimming pool. River Song tends find it handy."

* * *

Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, Jennifer found herself in a massive walk-in closet. While she was sure that, in his head, the Doctor had it in some sort of order, it looked like a complete disaster. Many clothes were hung up in the open closets that lined the room, and it looked like there was another level to it.

Finally, she spotted a sizeable chunk of space at the back of the room that was dedicated to women's clothing. She chuckled at the idea of the Doctor regenerating into a woman. She almost wished she could be there for that moment.

A sudden spasm in her shoulder prompted Jennifer to look back and make sure the Doctor was still busy in the control room. Safe. She could hear the engines go and remembered one of the reasons she had been trying to find the Doctor.

She didn't need the Doctor to tell her they were in the time vortex. Her skipping heartbeat and the urge to vomit told her enough. The spinning room forced her to sit down on a pile of clothes.

It was getting worse. She gritted her teeth in frustration at herself.

He couldn't know.

Flippin' aliens.

Curse Jack for being right.

From her cozy spot on the floor, Jen eyed a dress high in the closet. 1940s? Blue. Wooden buttons. Why not? As if on its own accord, the dress slipped from its hanger and flew into her lap. On cue, she grabbed an old-looking shirt and held it to her now-bleeding nose.

She growled in annoyance. That was the third time.

"Okay, Jen. Shake it off, shake it off."

Great. Just great. Now, she couldn't even do _that_ without opening the floodgates.

"Jen?" the Doctor called from below, still at the controls. "We've landed! In case you didn't know."

"Boy, do I know," the woman grumbled under her breath before raising her voice. "Be right down!"

After a moment, the bleeding stopped and she stuffed the stained shirt into the middle of a clothes pile. Waiting for the last of the dizziness to wear off, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the note she still carried with her with a careful shake of her head.

 _1946 London. Doctor dying New Years 2005. 906. Use your head. You owe him this._

Where was she supposed to start? And why? She knew she owed the Doctor for saving her life at least three times now, but the Doctor always regenerated and was fine. Why put those three numbers?

Finally, she pocketed the note and stripped off her sweater. Maybe she should tell him what was happening. But then she remembered that childish smile on his face and how eager he was to find her. She knew how broken he was already. This would just be another blow.

Slowly exhaling as she secured the last button, she snagged a pair of heels that looked like they would fit and stepped onto the stairs.

Hide the damage. She was okay. One last adventure.

* * *

"What made you think to come here anyway?" Jennifer asked as she poked at the pie the Doctor had ordered for both of them.

"Memories," he answered with a thoughtful smile. "And, well, 1946 England. So much chaos, so much hope."

 _1946_

"Doctor." She sat back with her tea. "How old are you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious about…" She redirected. "How old were you the last time you regenerated?"

"Nine hundred and six. Approximately. Why do you ask?"

"You mentioned it a few times in passing when I was traveling with you full-time, and I have to ask. The last time you regenerated…what exactly happened? I promise I'm going somewhere with this."

The Time Lord also leaned back as he tried to think of a way to answer. But there was a strange understanding in that thoughtfulness too.

"Normally, when I regenerate, it's fairly quick, or there's at least someone there with me. But, after what happened this last time, I wasn't ready. My death had been predicted, and I spent far too long dwelling on it. And I found myself alone. Of course, I realize how silly it was now, but, at the time, it was quite…terrifying. But something…did make better," he finished carefully.

She put her hand into her pocket and thought of showing him the note. But that might mess with timelines or something. She didn't know that version of the Doctor. Why was her future self so concerned and desperate to scribble that note and risk a paradox to get it to her? If she did this, whatever it was, she could get herself killed.

"Someone else was there," she stated blandly. "But you can't really tell me about it, because it's still in my future." He looked a little guilty. "Fair enough."

"Where'd you leave Jack this time?" the Doctor inquired, giving their conversation a much-needed detour.

Right. Jack.

She pasted on a look of amusement.

"I left him in the stocks in the 1400s. He deserved it."

"Haha! Good ol' Jack."

" _We didn't steal this stuff. We came with it, and we're leaving with it because we couldn't find a buyer."_

" _Right," replied the slightly dazed sheriff. "All yours."_

 _As the tricked lawman walked away, the immortal man snorted a laugh.  
_

" _Wow!" exclaimed Jack Harkness, hauling the big bag of supplies over his shoulder. "You actually made that guy think all this stuff was ours. Even after months of this, I can't believe you can do stuff like that. Turning out to be pretty handy, you are._ _You're just like that, uh, some Earth thing…"_

" _A Jedi?"_

" _Yeah, that!"_

 _When Jennifer turned around to face Jack, he dropped his bag upon seeing the blood dribbling from her nose and her vain attempts to hold it off with her hand._

" _I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." She leaned against the stone building for support, a glazed look coming over her eyes. "Just need to shake it off."_

" _How many times has this happened?"_

" _Once before."_

" _Once too many." He eyed her suspiciously. "You don't have the_ flu _. You feeling sick when we came here was from the time travel." She looked at him guiltily. "And…_ this _is from that trick you just pulled. It's from that glowey alien you told me about, right? Does the Doctor know it did this?"_

" _Jack, this is my life. And these…effects just started recently, so we don't know that it was that."_

" _How do you know? Ever since we started traveling together, I never said anything 'cause I thought it was just like getting carsick. But it's not. It's getting worse. Especially since you started using those…alien mind tricks."_

 _Jennifer stared hard at her companion, narrowing her dark eyes._

" _Oy!" she suddenly cried for everyone in the market to hear. "This blighter here just tried stealing my bag! Almost broke my bloody nose! I'm sorry, Jack."_

* * *

"Sure I can't give you a ride anywhere? Any time?" the Doctor asked as Jen stepped back out of the TARDIS in another set of clothes from the upstairs wardrobe – this one more suitable for running around time and space.

"I think I'll wander for a bit. It was great seeing you, Doctor."

She hugged her friend and turned back to streets of London. In reality, she didn't think she could stand another trip through time for a while. And she had a lot to think about with this regeneration business. The Doctor had been hesitant to talk about it, but it seemed important that he hadn't been alone. Was he really _that_ scared? The _Doctor_?

Jennifer absentmindedly turned a corner and ran into something hard. She looked up to find a black, sleek, imposing wall that hadn't been there before.

With a puzzled _humph_ , she turned around to go back and stopped again. This wasn't right.

Now quite concerned, Jen turned completely around to take in her apparently new surroundings. A ten-foot wide hallway with hard, reflective black walls, ceiling, and floor. A few turns off of it, but no distinctions or directions of any kind.

Determined to remain calm, the woman tiptoed down the silent hallway and peered down two of the offshoots that cut into the marble and turned away sharply. Just the same blackness and the same incandescent square lights on the walls every twenty feet or so.

Well, this was ridiculous. Most certainly wouldn't have been her first death wish. No point in sticking around, though she hadn't really wanted to use…

Wait. Where was her vortex manipulator? She looked down and realized that all of the tech she had been carrying had disappeared from her person. Now was the cue to panic at least a little, right? At least they – whoever _they_ were – hadn't taken the knife from her belt – just her gun, scanner, vortex manipulator, anything that would have given her any confidence about getting out of here. Wherever _here_ was.

The sound of voices around the next corner filled her with a mix of relief and anxiety.

"Well, now what?" she muttered.

An overenthusiastic English accent echoed down the hall towards her.

"Allon- _sy_!"

The sight of what she had to work with replaced everything else with pure dread.

"Oh, for the love of –"


	6. Hunter Onboard

Extra long chapter! In case you weren't already aware, each chapter usually covers one encounter the Doctor has with Jennifer. Questions, compliments, and criticism are welcome!

Hunter Onboard

 _I grew up on Earth – a fairly normal existence. I went to school and had a wonderful future ahead of me. But then, of course, what would a good story be without some tragedy occurring? Personally, I would have been perfectly pleased to not have a story worth telling, but fate wouldn't have it. Apparently._

 _My parents were killed when I was a teenager, leaving me and my big sister alone. A normal sixteen- and nineteen-year-old might have had problems with having a home, money, and education after that, but not us. We didn't have the chance. The creatures that had killed our parents chased us across two states before catching up to us. We killed them._

 _And we kept killing after that. Simple. We became hunters of evil, and we were good at it. My sister was better than me; she had made hunting the unnatural her occupation right out of high school. I caught up eventually, though. We were the perfect team. We are the perfect team. No creatures can stand in our way._

 _At least…that's what I thought. On April 4, 2003, my belief was shattered._

"Kelsey, down!"

The other brunette obeyed, just in time for a blast of salt to zap over her head.

"Great. Now, where did it go?"

"You're welcome," grumbled the twenty-one-year-old as she reloaded her shotgun. "So, we're dealing with a ghost."

"That obvious, huh? Just shut up and go find this guy's journal, Jenny. I'll try to keep this idiot entertained."

"Yup."

Jennifer grabbed a bag of salt from their pile in the corner and bolted up the stairs. The country house had been abandoned a few years ago after the couple kept finding their windows and doors locked, things moving on their own, etc. The body of the ghost – some creeper who had killed all of his girlfriends in the 1930s – had been cremated, but he apparently had a habit of putting some of his hair in the pages of his journal every year. The last owners of the house said they had found the journal in a drawer in the master bedroom. If they destroyed that, the ghost would leave.

The young hunter had an easy time finding the dresser; the journal was in the top drawer. She opened the cover just to be sure. _Drew Carny._ And the hair. Perfect.

A shot rang out downstairs. Kelsey was doing her job of the distracting the ghost; she was good at that. Jennifer dropped the journal into a metal trash bin, lit a match from her jean pocket, and torched the book. There was another shot from downstairs, followed by an ungodly scream.

Jen brushed the salt from her fingerless gloves and smugly straightened her tasseled beanie hat. After watching to make sure the journal had burned completely, she turned to head back downstairs – Kelsey was probably already packing up their gear in the car. A dark figure in the doorway suddenly stepped into light, halting her movement. Blood coated his shirt collar and dripped down his chin. His fanged teeth were stained red and his gaze was…hungry. Jen froze in place and glanced around for an exit while slowly grasping the hilt of the machete at her hip. How did he get past her sister?

"Been a long time, Jennifer. I thought you might be here after I saw your sister."

Wait. She knew this creature.

"Kelsey!" she called, forcing her growing panic to remain subdued.

The vampire took a few steps forward, grinning grotesquely.

"She can't hear you."

" _Kelsey!_ " the girl screamed louder, but no one was coming. She yanked the machete out to be ready when the vampire attacked. "What did you do to her?"

"Same thing I did to your parents."

Jen somersaulted to the side the first time he lunged, trying to strategize how she would get him into a position to behead him without her partner to help. She whipped around when he came at her a second time and got lucky with a cut across his chest. Unfortunately, it simply angered him. The vampire easily flicked the machete out of her hand. A moment later, she found herself flying through second-story window headfirst.

She landed roughly on the slanted porch roof and took a semi-controlled tumble to the marshy lawn. With one look at the broken windows all around the building, Jennifer started thinking of an escape plan. The car's tires had been slashed and the windows shattered. There was a vampire in the car…and another had just appeared inside the house. Time to leave. With just her pistol and two daggers in her boots, the only choice was to run.

Jennifer limped for the driveway, hoping that she might find a car to snag on the main road. Halfway down the drive, she found something completely unexpected. But maybe they wouldn't find her there… She took a detour off the road and shot into the blue box. She wasn't going to question a good thing. She locked the door behind her and sighed. Now to think…

"Well, what year are we in n…? Wait. How…? Why did you let _her_ in and lock _me_ out just the other day?!"

"It's not _my_ fault. The TARDIS…"

"Oh, don't even start with me."

Jennifer slowly turned around and froze. Hadn't she fled into a small police box? This was a giant room! She wasn't even sure how to describe it. It looked…alien and magical. A large round-ish control panel sat on a raised platform in the center of the room.

An old, grouchy-looking man strolled toward her from the console with a brown-haired, sweet-looking young woman skipping along behind him.

"You!" he accused lightly, a Scottish accent clear on his tongue, pointing at the new arrival. The strangers stopped several feet away. "Do...do you know who I am?"

"Doctor, is this someone I should know?"

"No. Last time I ran into her was before your time."

"Oh." The girl seemed disappointed. "Are you all right, Miss?"

Jennifer stood there with wide eyes. What kind of sorcery was this? The old man suddenly walked right up to her, his hand hovering over her face. This was getting a little weird…to say the least.

"You're…beautiful! And the scars! You don't have the scars!"

"Doctor, I think you're scaring the poor girl."

The man backed off just as Jen was considering shooting him simply on principal.

"You really don't know me?"

"Crazy man with a box that's bigger on the inside?" she breathed quickly. "That might just be about as crazy as the vampire that's about to break down this door."

The man scrunched up his shaggy eyebrows, and strode purposefully back to the center console and began flipping some switches. The room started making a wheezing noise, like a musical chalkboard. Cautiously, Jen followed and weakly returned a smile from his companion.

"Vampires aren't a concern for me, girl. Interesting that they exist…but not my concern at the moment."

"Who are you?" She kept one hand comfortably resting on her gun.

"The Doctor," he answered vaguely, then waving to his friend. "And this is Clara." The wheezing suddenly stopped and those intense eyes scowled at her again. "Now. Care to be amazed?"

"I'm sorry, but this is not my impressed face. I just lost my sister and didn't even get to say goodbye, so pardon me if I don't seem very enthusiastic about being scooped up at this particular moment," she snipped, not bothering to hide how ticked off she was. She had always been good at hiding when something bothered her – especially the big things. But _this_ was a whole new level of crazy.

He stalked back to the door and looked back at her expectantly. There was something else in his eyes that she couldn't quite pinpoint – Guilt? Sadness? Haunting? Some sort of resolve?

"I'm sorry for your loss, but I did just save your life. I think I deserve a little tolerance."

He did have a point there. Reluctantly, she approached as he opened the door.

"I've seen werewolves, tricksters, vampires, and demons. I don't think your little Mary Poppins box is going to make a very big impression."

When the door finally opened, her jaw dropped. Space. They were in _space._ She looked back in the box and back out again, just to make sure she wasn't crazy. They were floating in space – nothing between them and the twinkling stars. Maybe she was crazy.

"Yes, it is a spaceship. And a time machine. Look, you can go back if you like, whenever you want. But you're welcome to travel with me for a while."

Clara elbowed the temperamental man in the side and muttered,

"Nice, _gentle_ introduction, Doctor."

* * *

"Still not a gentle introduction."

"What? It's not that far in her past," the old man grumped back.

Clara stopped in the hallway in front of the Doctor and scoffed.

"Doctor, we're in Austria in 1822. We picked her up in twenty-first century America!"

His attack eyebrows popped skyward at that. Meanwhile, their guest had wandered down the well-lit hallways and froze at one of the doorways, through which a cascade of piano and sweet tenor music was emanating. The time-travelers swiftly joined her. In the brightly-lit room was a small crowd of refined-looking folk, but it was the man at the piano who had captured Jennifer's attention. He was rather short with round spectacles; he was chubby, baby-faced, and red-cheeked – nothing too shocking. But the Doctor grinned at the sight.

"Do you know who that is, Clara?" he whispered excitedly.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but I haven't met many 19th century composers."

"That's Franz Schubert. He died when he was only thirty-one years old, yet he composed over six _hundred_ songs, not including his larger works. Proof that it's not the time that matters…" The Doctor trailed off, looking nostalgic for a moment before leaning over to his guest. "Care to meet the fellow?"

Instead of waiting for a response, the Time Lord grabbed both women by the arm and guided them into the room.

* * *

"What is it now, Doctor?"

"The sonic is picking up something odd, but I'm not sure what."

"Hm. Perhaps it could be that our most recent guest is singing a nineteenth-century Lied with the original composer accompanying her," Clara snipped, motioning to Jennifer, who had quickly introduced herself to Franz Schubert and was now entertaining the delighted guests with his recently created _Der Musensohn_. "How is she so comfortable with all this? We just scooped her up in a blue box and brought her to visit an under-five-foot musician who died of syphilis."

"Typhoid fever, actually, they think. And the girl was fighting real life vampires and you're questioning her ability to take this? I think something is scanning the room."

"I just think that… Doctor?" The Doctor had slipped into the hallway to fiddle with his screwdriver settings. "What's wrong?"

"There's something hampering my scans. I can't pin down the source."

"Are…are we safe? Should we grab the composer and evacuate the house?"

"Go back in there and keep an eye on things. I'll try to find whatever's…"

He trailed off and disappeared into another room. Clara huffed and hesitantly stepped back into the sitting room, noting that the music had stopped and had been replaced by idle chatter. There were just enough people to let her be inconspicuous. On the other hand, Jennifer was nowhere in sight.

* * *

"This is where you do most of your composing?"

"For now," the little man shrugged as Jen eyeballed some loose sheet music on the piano bench. "Ah. That's my Eighth Symphony. I haven't really worked on it in quite a while."

Schubert's _Unfinished Symphony_ had always been a bit of a legend in the musical world. No one was quite sure why he had never completed this particular work. She then picked up another piece of paper with poetry scribbled on it.

"Now _that_ 's an interesting subject." It was a poem that Schubert would, in fact, set to music the next year under the title _Du bist die Ruh_. Jen had looked at the Lied in passing, but had found it too intimidating for her musical ability. "The tabernacle of my eyes by your radiance alone is illumined, O fill it completely! Friedrich Rückert wrote that poem earlier this year. I intend to put it to music, eventually, but…" He looked at Jennifer curiously. "…I have yet to find the inspiration."

She smiled and blushed a little. He was short and not particularly attractive to her, but Schubert had secretly been one of her childhood idols. He was a genius. A genius who died far too young.

"I'm sure you'll find it."

Franz smiled at the assurance.

"I must say you have a lovely singing voice. Have you had any training?"

"I begged to take lessons when I was a child for a few years. I have to ask, though. Why haven't you tried finishing your symphony?"

Schubert paused, suddenly concerned.

"I had put it aside until recently, actually. I wasn't planning to finish it…just got distracted. But lately I just…feel that I must finish. As if my own fate depends on it. Does that make any sense or am I completely mad?"

The Doctor suddenly appeared in the doorway, brandishing his glowey metal screwdriver thing.

"There you are. I suppose I forgot to tell you the first rule of traveling with me: Don't wander off. You must be Franz Schubert! Honor to meet you. Name's the Doctor. Don't mean to be rude, but has there been anything strange going on here recently? Your house is sending my scans ballistic!"

Schubert looked at Jen in bewilderment.

"Pardon, but…scans? What scans?"

"It's all right. He came with me," the fighter replied begrudgingly. If this was a dream, it was a poor excuse for a dream. "What's wrong, Doctor?"

"I can't see it clearly. It's like something's scanning the house, but I can't pinpoint it. Herr Schubert, you were mentioning something about a symphony that you hadn't planned to finish until recently. What brought that on?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but since I started a treatment for a…medical condition. The inspiration just came to me."

The Doctor abruptly pulled Jen and a newly-arrived Clara aside, and whispered harshly,

"Exceptional amounts of sweat, red face…mercury! It's believed that Schubert had syphilis and took mercury for it. What if he wasn't meant to do that? What if something is trying to kill him off, or threatening him to finish the work? Maybe that symphony is to be used for some dark purpose and it's not _meant_ to be completed? I came across this once with Shakespeare. Bad business with witches. Could this be…?" He snapped around to face the confused composer. "You're taking mercury?"

"How – ? How did you know?"

"It's a common, misguided cure for your alleged condition. Only problem is it's _killing_ you bit by bit. Who started you on this miracle brew? Pretty woman with a talent for persuasion?"

"Doctor!" Clara scolded. This was no way to get answers out of this man.

Schubert puffed out his chest indignantly.

"You know nothing, sir. With all due respect, I ask you to return to the sitting room. I have some writing to do."

The Doctor seemed likely to argue until his screwdriver buzzed violently in his hand. With a victorious grunt, he disappeared again. Clara followed after giving Franz an apologetic smile. Jen started to follow, but the little man stopped her.

"Please stay, if you like. I like the quiet when I compose, but I also like the company, when it's the right kind. Feel free to peruse my collection. I'd like to finish this section, then I'll say goodbye to my guests."

Jennifer nodded, figuring that the Doctor had wanted her to keep an eye on Schubert anyway. As she flipped through some of the loose pages on his piano and he prepared his ink, she casually brought up the forbidden subject.

"I can tell you weren't lying about getting your inspiration. But did you notice anything…strange around that time? If you don't mind me asking."

The man paused and looked up at her from the piano, debating on whether to trust her.

"Doubt me if you wish. The night my inspiration returned…I thought there was a…presence in my house. It was an evening when I had stayed in and had no guests. Yet there was something strange. At midnight, there was a bright light and what sounded like someone tapping my piano strings. By the time I reached the room, it was gone."

"Has it happened since then?"

"Once or twice," he muttered, pointedly turning back to his work. Maybe he thought he was crazy or he felt threatened. "If you don't mind staying a few minutes, I'd like to play this passage for you after I finish."

The Doctor was busy and she had nothing better to do. With a nod, she sank onto the couch. Only a few minutes.

* * *

A glowing light flashed into the room for a brief moment, but there was no response. Over the dying chatter of the remaining guests from the sitting room down the hall, a subtle beeping pulsed in the darkness, constant, dull, and hypnotizing. Still no reaction.

Schubert was hunched over the piano, consumed by his writing, as he had been for the past hour – unreachable by anything so trivial as this alien ball of glowing blue. Pausing to think, he mopped away the uncommon amounts of sweat from his red brow. And back to work.

The dainty sapphire star cautiously approached the composer, settling behind and waiting as it conducted a silent scan. Sure enough…

The being hesitated as its scan discovered a different life form in its proximity. What was it? Hesitantly, it hovered over to the couch.

Jennifer had every intention of staying awake and waiting for Franz to finish; however, after fifteen minutes and no sign of him stopping, she could no longer keep her eyes open. The couch was luxuriously cozy and she hadn't had an ounce of rest since…since…since sixteen hours before the Doctor had scooped her up on this Disneyland ride. After losing all hope and her only sister, and after being so sure that she was going to be a vamp's lunch, this…crazy, wonderful thing had happened. For now, she didn't bother questioning it. If there was time and it was real, then she would ask; for now, at least she wasn't dying. If this was Heaven, it wasn't bad.

" _Jennifer…Webb…"_ a voice whispered. Warm, non-threatening. _"Years…twenty-one…"_

Gentle mental tendrils seemed to reach into her mind, caressing her thoughts and memories.

" _Kelsey, down!"_

" _Family…"_ it breathed, lightly pushing her back into the memory when she contemplated resisting.

" _Same thing I did to your parents."_

" _Deceased,"_ the entity sighed, it's harsh words like a leaf on the wind. _"Profession…"_

 _Jen somersaulted to the side the first time he lunged, trying to strategize how she would get him into a position to behead him without her partner to help. She whipped around when he came at her a second time and got lucky with a cut across his chest._

" _Hunter."_ It sounded impressed. No, disappointed. Confused? With unfounded concern, Jen reached out to the being, but it reacted by sending a sharp shock through their strange link. Monster. It was a monster. She had to kill the monster! She tried to shut it out and put up some semblance of a mental barricade, but it pushed her efforts aside. _"Potential…"_ it hissed, unruffled.

" _I've seen werewolves, tricksters, vampires, and demons. I don't think your little Mary Poppins box is going to make a very big impression."_

 _When the door finally opened, her jaw dropped. Space. They were in_ space. _She looked back in the box and back out again, just to make sure she wasn't crazy. They were floating in space – nothing between them and the twinkling stars. Maybe she was crazy._

" _Yes, it is a spaceship. And a time machine. Look, you can go back if you like, whenever you want. But you're welcome to travel with me for a while."_

 _Go back? With all of time and space? Away from those monsters and the chaos of the life she knew? Without her sister, she had no reason to be there. The chance to travel like this… It didn't matter if it was a dream; maybe it was. Maybe she was being killed by a monster at this very second. But, if this was real... She had seen so much death – enough to know that she would jump at a chance to have a life like this. Space and time!_

 _The Doctor – the alien – suddenly pulled her attention back inside._

" _I want to show you something you've never dreamed of," the old man whispered excitedly._

The memory suddenly vanished, replaced by a warm, suffocating blueish whiteness. Every time she breathed, it felt like she was being smothered with a pillow in a sauna. She struggled, but she was also painfully aware that it was impossible to physically control her own body. She could only lay there on the couch, being consumed by that calming white voice.

" _Adequate."_

Memories, thoughts, and feelings that weren't her own started pressing in on Jen's consciousness.

" _Must find shelter. Can't reach home. All is lost. Must find a host."_ I am Jennifer W… Jennifer… Jen… _"He may be adequate. Not vulnerable. Must weaken. Inspire. Poison."_ I'm a fighter. I don't give up… _"Inspiration. Yes. Weakening, trauma. Yes. But another… Must live."_ Doctor! _"I must live!"_ I must live!

"Jennifer!" The glowing entity – Jen – hesitated. Something was trying to pull her away. Or pull something away from her. Which was which?! "Jen?"

There was a high-pitched buzzing sound and the white tendrils that had wrapped around every inch of the human body slowly slid away. She felt split in two…no, she was whole. There was something else she couldn't pinpoint. The room spun around a dozen or so times as the three – six – two – no, three people helped her sit up. Her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened. She remembered feeling the power and heightened senses of the entity. The hunter in her had been thrilled by the fight, what the experience had given her…which was now a dizzying headache and overwhelming nausea.

"Where is it?" she whispered weakly.

"Dissipated," the Doctor replied, looking around as if to make sure the thing wasn't coming back. "Suppose it put too much into the transfer to survive when it was disconnected prematurely. I…" He suddenly bent down, his eyebrows uncomfortably close. "It _is_ still you…right?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Clara quickly handed her a metal waste bin as the Doctor took a large step back.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Doctor," Clara began, patting the other girl on the back, "maybe certain aspects of the being are still...existing. There just wasn't enough in either it or Jen for its true self to survive."

"It was attracted to inspiration and hope – just what a new being needs…"

"But it couldn't attach itself to a strong, healthy mind," Clara chirped back excitedly. "That's why it started Schubert on the mercury."

"That's why it picked a genius and gave him that driving hope for the impossible! But Jennifer! She just lost her home and her family, so her mind was weakened; but being swept off her feet to travel in time and space…that's more than any inspiration you can just create."

"From what you were able to find, this creature – or essence of a creature – was separated from its home planet and needed a host body to survive. And it could only do that by integrating with another physical creature!" Clara cried victoriously.

"Clara…!" The Doctor cleared his throat. "You do have your moments, don't you? Hm. For all we know, some of its abilities, senses, or something like that stayed. Only time will tell. I'm not sure what it was, but it's probably not from this time. If it _could_ time-travel, why didn't it to return to its home? Or maybe it couldn't."

"Wait," Schubert halted them, finally coming out of his shocked stupor. "You're telling me that the…light…was a spirit trying to possess one of us? Don't be ridiculous!"

"I wouldn't be so sure, good sir."

With a curt nod to his companion, the Time Lord stalked out of the room. Clara helped Jen stand and follow.

"Doctor," the girl protested. "What about Schubert? Just because that thing is gone doesn't mean he'll stop taking the mercury. He'll kill himself before long."

"Clara," the old man sighed, "some things are set. Some things…you can't change."

Alone in the room, Schubert sat back down on the piano bench and stared blankly at the scribbles on the pages.

"Well. I suppose there's no point in finishing this."


	7. Slowpoke

The reviews are very much appreciated!

Slowpoke

"Doctor, are you sure we're going to the 1970s and not the 1870s?"

"Of course I'm sure."

Jennifer appeared behind Clara in the control room.

"Because, the last time you said 1970s, it was the 1870s and, frankly, we shocked quite a few proper-looking gentlemen."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure," the Doctor brushed them off, landing the TARDIS and going to open the door. The women came up behind him as he froze.

"Something wrong, Doctor?" they smirked in unison. Those two made a bad combination when they were on the same side…

"Well, we're the 1970s. Just…not on Earth."

Clara stepped out of the box and looked around.

"Navigation a bit wonky, eh? Oh well. Ooh! _That_ looks interesting!"

Jen hung behind with the Time Lord, surveying the oriental-looking street with tall buildings and shops with a critical eye. About fifty yards away, the street split and twisted out of sight. Despite the circumstances of her joining the traveling party, she had proven to be quite useful in their adventures. She was a fighter and could sense danger as well as the Doctor could sense the color of his kidneys. Clara had been a little jealous of the Doctor having a second companion at first, but the two women had actually developed a mutual, if peculiar, respect for each other.

"Jennifer. How long have you been traveling with me?"

"Twenty-nine days," she replied without hesitation. "Yes, I've been counting. I was so sure that this was all a dream or something…I had to be sure of something."

"Impressive, I suppose. Well, it's not a dream. Hopefully, you've realized that by now. Do you plan on sticking around?"

She glanced at him incredulously. Ever since her encounter with that glowing creature stalking Franz Schubert, there was something different about her…not that he knew her very well in her timeline before that incident. He had never noticed it...before seeing how she looked before meeting him. Her face was paler, her voice was heavier, and her eyes were keener. If he hadn't already checked with the TARDIS scans, he would have guessed that she was ill. Or, at least, something was different about her.

"There's a lot of universe out there for me to see. I don't intend on going back to my problems on Earth until I've had the chance to work them out and live a little. Sound all right?"

"Actually." The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin chain with a copy of the TARDIS key hanging from it. "I think it's about time I gave you this. You've earned it. You've proven yourself to be not _too_ annoying and you're useful enough."

"I…" She stared at the key with a hurt puppy smile. He hoped she wasn't going to get all emotional. That wasn't her style. "Thank you."

"Doctor," Clara called, coming back from the shops, "I found someone who might be able to tell us why the TARDIS brought us here. Says he's a time traveler too."

The stranger was just buying a steamed bun from the nearest stall before turning to join the three travelers. Jen raised an eyebrow in curiosity as the Doctor struggled between annoyance and excitement upon seeing this particular man.

"Doctor!" With a grin, he sauntered over to them and winked at Jen. "Well, hello there."

"Stop it," the Time Lord warned.

"Nice to see you too, Doc. Aren't you going to introduce me?"

The Doctor sighed, dramatically moving his scraggly eyebrows up and down.

"Clara. Jen. This is Captain Jack Harkness."

* * *

"So, you said you think you know why the TARDIS decided to come here?"

The Doctor scowled doubtfully at Jack, trying to find a reason for him to be behind this change of plans. The travelers had been patient enough during the past hour, following the captain around and letting him show off the various delicacies of the little city neighborhood.

"Couple of Time Agents gone rogue. The TARDIS probably sensed that the timeline was at risk. In fact, they might have seen it by now, so I would suggest moving her somewhere more hidden. They'd love to get their paws on your ship."

"Why are you involved then? Are you some sort of time cop?" Clara interjected.

"No, ma'am. I used to be a Time Agent, though. I stumbled across this gang a couple days ago. They've probably covered their tracks pretty well, so no one will be looking here. I know how they operate. With help, I could strand 'em or turn 'em in."

"Fine," growled the Doctor. "But, if this turns out to be trap, I'll behead you myself."

Jack brushed off the comment.

"We could split up. Cover more ground. They're not exactly subtle people. Here." He tossed a small communicator to the old man. "If one of us finds something, give a holler. Be warned that they've been searching for a big weapon for a while, so…go cautiously."

"Do you think I'm going to let you out of my sight?"

"Come on, Doctor. Let's go," the schoolteacher piped up. "Come along. Lots of ground to cover."

As Clara led him away by the sleeve around the corner, the Doctor called,

"You behave yourself, Jack, or so help me…"

Jennifer sniffed a laugh and casually checked that her Swiss Army knife was still in her pocket while surveying the streets. Too quiet. Jack acknowledged her caution with an approving nod and showed her the pistol on his belt.

"So…you're an American?" she joked dryly.

"I've run across them, but no. I can see where you might get that impression," he grinned. "My hometown is nowhere near Earth. Though it may have been originally settled by Americans, for all I know. You're from America?"

"Born and raised."

"Yeah? Which part?"

"All over. I lived in several different places growing up, but after my parents died, my sister and I just traveled."

"Sounds nice."

She snorted.

"We hunted creatures that were also hunting us. I've spent the past few years becoming a killer. My sister was killed just before I met the Doctor. Sorry, but it's still a sensitive subject."

"So, why are you here? Why aren't you home? Running away?"

Jen granted him a sidelong glance.

"There's nothing to run _to_. I need a distraction and adventure that doesn't involve imagining a vampire or demon sneaking up on me in my sleep. I would be going crazy back on Earth right now."

"Well, you're more than welcome on this crazy train. If you get bored of being with the Doctor, you can always travel with me. It's a little more back alleys and bars than his usual venue."

Jen hummed a consideration.

* * *

"Doctor, we overheard a couple of agents. They're going for the TARDIS. Get back there and take off NOW!"

"What about you?" was the static reply.

Jack spared a moment of eye contact with Jennifer as they plunged through the streets. He was surprised by how calm and steady she appeared. They wouldn't reach the TARDIS before the others. They were too far away.

"You have to get that ship out. We'll try to reach you in time."

They ran faster than ever, pushing people over and displacing shop carts in their wake. They heard a familiar whining sound and a few shouts before the first sound ceased entirely. Unsure of whether or not the Doctor had escaped, Jack pulled his guest into a side alley and grabbed the communicator out of his pocket again.

"Doctor?"

"The TARDIS senses the danger. She refuses to go back. I can't go back for you."

"Jen'll be safe with me. I can teach her some time travel street smarts. We'll run into you eventually."

"I'm sorry, Jennifer. This isn't how I wanted this to happen."

The brunette took a few seconds to comprehend what this meant – being trapped on a foreign planet with a man she had just met – and tolerantly came to terms with it.

"It's not your fault. Just get out of here before the rogues track you." The static cut and there was only silence. "Well, this isn't exactly how I planned on traveling the stars, but I can't be too picky."

Jack pocketed the communicator, shaking his head in amusement.

"So, Jen. Got a last name?"


	8. To Hell and Back

Especially long chapter. Enjoy!

To Hell and Back

"Doctor, shouldn't we try going _back_ for Jennifer? We can't just leave her! I don't care if you think she's in safe hands. She's only been traveling with us a month and she deserves a little more of a… Doctor?" Clara paused in her rant as the Time Lord set the TARDIS down in her front yard two hours before work. "You have no intention of going back for her," she suddenly realized.

The old man was busy with his scans.

"She'll travel with Jack for a while, run into me a few times, and eventually end up traveling on her own for a bit. I have yet to find out what really happens to her."

"Must be hard," the lady noted thoughtfully, retrieving her coat. "Knowing the beginning and all of the middle bits without knowing the end. It's like reading a novel and finding the last page ripped out."

The Doctor took a moment to respond, but Clara wasn't sure what had struck a chord with him.

"I hate endings."

"But at least there was a good story," the schoolteacher quipped back. She paused again as she opened the TARDIS door. "Pick me up Wednesday at 8?"

The Doctor waved absentmindedly and she left with a fond shake of her head. He dematerialized the TARDIS and, while he tried to think of where to head to next, he was slightly conscious of his jacket pocket warming up bit-by-bit.

Was something burning? He sniffed the air. Burning cloth. He looked down.

"Bloody…! Confounded thing!"

He flicked his psychic paper out of his pocket and dropped the steaming object on the floor. With many cross words, the Doctor slapped at his coat to make sure it wasn't going to catch on fire. He dared to peer through the hole. Luckily, it had burned its way through, but there were regrettably a couple of nasty scorch marks inside his pocket. This was one of his favorite jackets!

The Oncoming Storm glowered at the offending leather-bound paper for a moment to see if it would sprout legs next. Nothing else happened. Just the leftover smoke.

He dared to delicately pick it up with the tips of his fingers and furrowed his bushy eyebrows at the sight of the bold charcoal writing within.

 _Retrieve the Watcher of Angels_

And space-time coordinates.

No begging plead. No polite inquiry. Just _**Retrieve the Watcher of Angels**_ _._ Just that directive. Perfectly cryptic and rude.

Well, this was different. He tried to remember what those coordinates were. Something forbidden, if he recalled correctly. Something that Time Lords were not supposed to mess with. Ever. He really shouldn't meddle in something that critical. But when had that ever stopped him? Who was there to stop him?

The Doctor covertly turned all the way around to gaze at the control room. No other Time Lords. No companions. No one to tell him how bad of an idea it was. Except…

He gingerly flipped a few switches on the console and started putting in the coordinates, looking up occasionally and waiting for a protest.

"Alternate reality of sorts, but of course…" he muttered to the ship. "…you're not going to like this. Come on. Humour me."

He flipped the last lever, which snapped right back to its original position. The TARDIS shuddered and the engines let out a whining screech as they hurdled aimlessly through space.

"Come on, sweetheart! Just this, and then we can go wherever you want. I promise!"

The Doctor stood perfectly still, listening to see if his negotiating had worked. Only silence.

"All right. Let's try this again."

He gently wedged his fingers back under the lever and, ever so slowly, pulled it down. The engine sighed before the ship jerked to life, tumbling through time and space toward whatever forbidden barrier lay before them.

"Ha-Ha!" the Doctor crowed victoriously. "I knew you could do it, old girl!"

His hands hovered over the controls for a moment as the ship continued bouncing along.

"Won't want to stay here for long. Let's just follow the coordinates exactly, land, and get out of there."

An especially violent jolt sent the Doctor nearly bouncing to the floor, but he was quickly back at the controls and eyeballing the scanner. He paused again.

"Can't open the doors. Do I even have…what's it called? Grabs onto things outside. Reels them in?"

A hand-sized control panel slowly rose from the console to his left.

"Tractor beam! Not quite, but it should work. What _is_ out there? Conditions aren't inhabitable by anything."

The controls started feeling hot to the touch, sending the Doctor back into a frenzy.

"Hot! Have to work quick! Fine. Where are you?" He switched on the camera outside. The strangest of things flickered by the screen. "Ooh, you're ugly." He kept glancing at the different confused life signs. Something was out of place. "Gotcha!"

With mechanical heave, the TARDIS extended its shields around the life sign and locked on. A _thunk_ from outside was enough encouragement for him to assume he had success in the retrieval.

"Hot! HOT! Too hot! Let's go, let's go!"

The ride out was turning out to be even rougher than the ride in. They bounded along, but the strange life sign stayed strong.

"Hold on, hold on!" he growled at the beeping light. He couldn't even tell what sort of creature it was, but, after what he saw, the Doctor was more than happy to get it out of that dimension. It didn't belong there. Could it be human? Maybe, but… "Still. Too. _Hot_! Wait. Nonono. What are you doing?"

As they emerged back into normal space, the ship apparently decided that it was going to early 2000s America.

"Stop that. I know I told you we could go anywhere, but not yet!

The TARDIS was beginning to slow and the lock was beginning to slip. It was like there suddenly wasn't anyone physically out there, but the scanners, blipping in and out as they were, still sensed something out there. The same thing they had picked up before. Whoever was outside better be holding on! He unexpectedly got a notification that the extended air bubble was about to shut down due to not being needed.

"No, no, no! It's still out there!"

Unless whoever it was had died. But the life sign was still there. No it wasn't.

The Doctor coughed and sputtered as he stumbled out of the little blue box, metal-scented steam billowing after him. There was no one else around.

"All right, you bitter piece of cardboard, where'd you drop it?"

He flicked on his screwdriver and scanned for life signs. None. Of course there were none; it was a cemetery. But none of this made sense!

The Doctor stood slowly turning in place for a minute before jerkily wandering between the headstones, many old but all clean and posh-looking. There were two mausoleums in sight, both regal, imposing things that probably held at least six people each. The cemetery appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. Other than a few trees, fields of grass spread out in every direction and disappeared over the rolling hills.

At last the sonic screwdriver's buzzing started rising in pitch – it had found something!

Hopping over the graves, the Doctor let the signal lead him to the far right mausoleum. The creaky metal door was unlocked. Sure enough, three niches on each side, each with a solid wooden coffin. All quite dead, he was sure.

Frustrated, the Time Lord gently tapped the screwdriver against the closest coffin to his left. What was wrong with this thing? He repeated his tapping in response to the _thump_ behind him. Wait.

The repeated pounding got louder, more insistent. The Doctor turned around to scowl skeptically at the coffin behind him, sitting at waist-height. It was coming from inside. He cocked his head and checked with his screwdriver one more time as someone threw a few choice curses from within.

A few seconds went by before the blade of a knife slipped out from under the lid and wriggled about before disappearing again. But the Doctor simply stood by, intrigued by this phenomenon. A few more curses and hits from the trapped person, and the rusted nails holding the top finally gave out. The cover of the coffin clattered to the floor with a dull slap.

"Aw. Ew!" the woman exclaimed, extracting herself from the box with surprising speed. Turned out she had been sharing the coffin with a long decomposed and dusty corpse. At least it wasn't still…juicy. The Doctor cringed at the thought.

The woman stared in disgust for a moment at her previous cage. Her clothes were disheveled, her dark red hair was tweaking every possible direction, and she still held the knife securely in her hand. Returning to her senses, she slowly turned to face the thoroughly unhelpful man standing beside her.

Jennifer. Webb.

Hadn't he just left her back…? Something was different. But what?

Jen found her voice before the Doctor could work out an explanation. But her words made no sense.

" _They_ didn't have the time, so they sent _you_?!"

He drew his eyebrows down. The being he had retrieved had not been human. Or at least it hadn't registered on his scans as a human person. Let alone a physical body. And how had she ended up in the coffin, nailed in with a dead man?

"Who?" he shot back, frustrated at his own confusion.

It was her turn for her eyebrows to shoot up. Red hair and…

"You've gone grey!"

So _that's_ what was different.

"Your scar is gone!"

"What?" Her hand shot to her face to search for the webbed scars that were no longer there. "Doctor, how did you find me? I wasn't even on Earth, let alone… I don't how you could…" With the blink of an eye, her expression went from inquisitive to bewildered. "Wait. Was I really…?"

"Jennifer!" Snapping her jaw closed, the woman gave him her full attention, those big dark eyes fearlessly locking with his. "What, in the name of all sanity, were you doing in _Hell_?"

Jennifer's protesting stomach answered first.

"Let's talk over food."

* * *

Slouching in a booth of a bustling 2030 London restaurant, Jen looked up from the psychic paper with an indecipherable look. She had traded her dusty clothes for a clean pair of well-fitting jeans, a black camisole, and a blue plaid shirt from the TARDIS. The old man had insisted that she leave her armament in the TARDIS.

"Time Lords aren't supposed to mess with it, huh?" she followed up his account. "That explains why things there are so…different from when I was traveling with you."

"All right. I told how I found you. Your turn. How did you end up in Hell, and who wanted you out? What did they do to you?"

Jen snatched up her last French fry, slid the psychic paper back to the Doctor, and proceeded to tie her hair back in a ponytail.

"I remember how I got there, but, as far as what they did to me, I don't remember. Not yet at least. Maybe I never will. Or I could remember tomorrow morning." She shrugged. "Anyway, do you remember what I told you, about what I do on Earth?"

"You're a hunter of some sort. When you first met me, you were being chased by vampire."

"Those are the sort of things I hunt," she confirmed shortly. "Things that aren't natural, that hurt people – I kill them before they can kill me. A family tradition that died off for a couple generations. But here I am. Thanks to whatever that glowing ball creature did when it tried to integrate with me, I've gotten way better at manipulating people, sensing things, and doing things that…normally would have been impossible. There's a bigger-than-usual problem starting in my line of work, and it involves way more demons than I've ever seen in my life. I can see certain things that don't want to be seen. I don't even have to try."

"So _that_ 's how you ended up having a sauna party downstairs," the Doctor concluded.

"Nope," she smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Some other hunters were fighting a demon that was tricking people into giving up their souls in that cemetery. It wanted one of the other guys, but I let them get away and…traded my soul to get him to stop taking the souls. I had less to lose. It worked. I guess he…dumped my body in that casket."

The Doctor's jaw hung slack for a brief second. He certainly learned something new every day. This was big. No wonder the Time Lords never got involved with this. Human souls. Very complicated. A completely new frontier. Almost tempting. But such a small corner of the universe. The TARDIS would have a fit if he made a habit of this.

"That's why my scanners couldn't make sense of it," he realized. "I was dragging your… _soul_ out of Hell!" She hummed an affirmative, apparently pleased that she knew more about something than the ancient Time Lord. "You said the entity from before left behind some of its…characteristics; you said you could _do_ more things."

Jennifer absentmindedly dropped a spoon into her black coffee and gave him a smug smile as the spoon moved on its own accord.

"Ooh!" she squealed excitedly. "It _does_ still work! I can't do too much like that – just more guiding things a little bit. Mostly, I can just persuade people easily, sense people around me, and…see certain things. Pretty cool though, huh?"

The Doctor, while interested, didn't show any signs of being impressed.

"You should have told me what was going on," he reprimanded. "Whatever that creature did to you, it could have left permanent damage. You could have been hurt."

Jennifer's expression softened at that.

"I almost died, Doctor. I know why the entity was stuck on Earth in the 1800s. It didn't belong in that place or time, but it couldn't go anywhere, for whatever reason. While the failed transfer gave me some fun abilities, it also had some less desirable side effects. And it got worse. At first, it was just time travel that made me a little sick. But then, time travel _or_ using my fun new tricks – at least the ones that took conscious effort – it took a lot outta me. Eventually, I realized that I was killing myself a little bit at a time with every hop through the time vortex."

The Doctor worked his jaw, angry that he hadn't been able to help his friend.

"So, _this_ little hop to get supper in 2030…?"

"Nothing!" she grinned, taking the spoon out of her mug and blowing on the steaming coffee. "Whatever happened to me between going to Hell and now, the illness is gone. I guess that part was just bound to my physical body. I mean, my scars are gone, right? I paid my dues. Maybe this is my reward." Sipping her drink, the redhead forced a change of subject. "What ever happened to Amy and Rory? Last time I talked to you, you were just giving them some space?"

The Doctor looked out the window before answering. He still missed the Ponds, bus he was glad they were content.

"They're gone. The Weeping Angels took them. But they grew old together. Had a happy life."

"Good. They deserved a happy life."

* * *

Jennifer Webb stepped out of the blue box, taking a moment to secure her khaki utility belt with all of the odd travel necessities of her trade. True to his word, in 2008 America. Missouri, according to the road sign. Population 13,862. Why not? The Doctor watched her regretfully for a moment, probably recalling the other times she had left the TARDIS without returning with the other passengers. She had insisted, though, that she needed to figure out what had happened on Earth while she was gone. So, here she was.

"Jennifer. This is the last time I'm going to see you, isn't it?"

"You never know," she reassured him, not believing her own words. "Time is a funny thing. All wibbly-wobbly."

The Doctor hesitated, then slipped into the TARDIS without another word. The girl did another inventory of her personal arsenal as the time machine's whining dissipated.

Finally, Jennifer was left to her thoughts outside an abandoned gas station on the edge of town. She wondered if the credit cards she had would still work. She'd been gone less than a year. Her car was likely towed and rehomed a long time ago. She wasn't that attached to it at least. She'd need a ride, though. Maybe pair up with one or two other hunters. She had a contact who could give her some names.

"We're just passing through, pal," she vaguely heard someone say as she started to head around the gas station. "We don't really know anyone."

Maybe she could get some supplies in town here. Maybe even buy a cheap car.

"Sorry."

"What's with the bowtie?"

Jennifer rounded the corner coming out onto the road and froze upon seeing who was in parking lot of the dog park across the road. The TARDIS. A Chevrolet Impala. Two familiar hunters. And a certain Time Lord.

"Bowties are cool," the younger Doctor gushed.

"No they're not." Then one of the hunters caught sight of her. It didn't take more than that one look for her to remember a thing or two. "Uh. Sam?"

Jennifer whipped back around the corner and slid down the wall with her head in her trembling hands.

"There's nothing there, Dean."

 _Horrible, dark creatures everywhere..._

"Pardon the saying, but you look like you just saw a ghost."

 _The smell of sulfur permeating every breath. The smell of burning flesh..._

"Before I went Down Under, we had that run-in with the psychopath demon that was catching people visiting cemeteries? Said it wanted a sacrifice and you were gonna go. She said she'd take care of it and the demon disappeared…along with her?"

 _Familiar eyes that had provided just a moment's respite. She trusted those eyes. But they held so much pain! They had broken him. He couldn't help..._

"Thank you!"

 _Dark shadows with all-seeing eyes looking straight through her soul..._

"Wow. Weirdo."

 _Sharp, horrific pain. So much blood. Make it stop!_

It did stop. Though she spent a good five minutes pulling herself together while still sitting against the gas station wall, it stopped. No more memories of Hell were coming to her for now. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to hop back into the hunting game so soon. Especially after she realized who else had been down there with her. Maybe it was best to not remember.

Deciding it was best to just get away from the town altogether, Jennifer stood and stretched her legs before walking back around the building. However, she discovered a surprising and pleasant sight.

The Doctor leaned against the outside of his TARDIS, attack eyebrows moving up and down and his lips curled upwards impishly. There was no telling how long it was for him, but he had at least changed out of his burned jacket.

"Do you…?" He hesitated, since Jen had been so insistent before about staying on Earth. "Do you want to travel with me for a while?"

Jen bit her bottom lip to try hiding the huge, enthusiastic, stupid smile appearing on her face, but she failed. At this moment, there was nothing she wanted more.

He motioned her forward and jogged inside. The woman followed him in and closed the door behind her. The Doctor, while happy to see her, still seemed a bit agitated.

"Something wrong, Doctor?"

"I was getting a new jacket, after that trip to fetch you ruined my other one," he snapped, holding up a wrinkled yellow sticky note. "I found _this_ in my coat pocket."

Jen raised an eyebrow in confusion. The note was folded in half, so she had no clue what he was talking about.

"...Oh?"

"My _coat pocket_ from when I had all of that…sticky-uppy hair. We only met once when I had that face, and I _definitely_ didn't know who you were then. It's _my_ handwriting. I haven't _touched_ this coat since I was the foxy one. How?"

He unfolded the note and stuffed it into her hand. The hunter barked a laugh before bubbling over with stifled giggles. She saw now the mischief underneath the Doctor's stern exterior.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find out; maybe not."

With a final unconcerned chuckle, the companion pasted the sticky note onto the edge of a control board on the side of the room and joined the Time Lord in plotting their next destination.

"I know where we should go!"

"We should pick up Clara! She's still traveling with you, right?"

He flew into action.

"Wednesday at 8, here we come! Was that morning or evening, though?"

Now completely forgotten, the note took its place as a new decoration of the TARDIS control room. But, as long as it was stuck to that panel, it would proclaim its purpose in the tenth Doctor's own handwriting:

 _ **Jennifer Webb was here.**_


	9. Full Circle: Part 1

Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming!

Full Circle: Part 1

 _Jennifer absentmindedly turned a corner on the road and ran into something hard. She looked up to find a black, sleek, imposing wall that hadn't been there before._

 _With a puzzled_ humph, _she turned around to go back and stopped again. This wasn't right._

 _Now quite concerned, Jen turned completely around to take in her apparently new surroundings. A ten-foot wide hallway with hard, reflective black walls, ceiling, and floor. A few turns off of it, but no distinctions or directions of any kind._

 _Determined to remain calm, the woman tiptoed down the silent hallway and peered down two of the offshoots that cut into the marble and turned away sharply. Just the same blackness and the same incandescent square lights on the walls every twenty feet or so._

 _Well, this was ridiculous. Most certainly wouldn't have been her first death wish. No point in sticking around, though she hadn't really wanted to use…_

 _Wait. Where was her vortex manipulator? She looked down and realized that all of the tech she had been carrying had disappeared from her person. Now was the cue to panic at least a little, right? At least they – whoever_ they _were – hadn't taken the knife from her belt – just her gun, scanner, vortex manipulator, anything that would have given her any confidence about getting out of here. Wherever_ here _was._

 _The sound of voices around the next corner filled her with a mix of relief and anxiety._

 _"Well, now what?" she muttered._

 _An overenthusiastic English accent echoed down the hall towards her._

 _"Allon-_ sy _!"_

 _The sight of what she had to work with replaced everything else with pure dread._

 _"Oh, for the love of –"_

 _Tall. Skinny. Young-ish. Full brown hair. Trenchcoat. Brown suit. Sonic screwdriver. Overenthusiastic. Overconfident._

 _Wait. Sonic screwdriver?_

 _The strange man led a crew of about ten mixed and matched people, some human and some not, down the hall towards Jen, screwdriver first. He passed her up by a few feet before coming back._

" _Hello!" he greeted with a cheeky grin. "Have you seen anyone else? Short little man? Bit self-conscious about his bald patch? We seem to have lost him. Just as I was lecturing these poor folks about wandering off. I see our mysterious captors let you keep a knife." Realizing that she was still holding her only momentary weapon, she quickly put it back in her belt. "Everyone who comes here seems to lose all of their gear except for one item. Lucky for me, mine was a sonic screwdriver."_

 _Okay. She could get onboard with this. Maybe this fellow wasn't as daft as he looked on first impression. With the sonic screwdriver, though, she had a very solid theory._

" _They took everything really useful," she commented. "So, we're all trapped in this place, left with one potentially handy item. I don't recognize any of these people. Do we know if we all have any connections, or why we might be here? Is this just an endless maze, or are there any clues?"_

 _The man grinned again at her observance. He reminded her a bit of a geeky Cheshire cat. Kinda cute too._

" _I'm the Doctor." That explained a lot. She was careful to not give away the fact that she recognized the name. "You're...bleeding, by the way."_

 _Jen muttered a curse under her breath and wiped away the blood from her nose. At least it wasn't too bad. The Time Lord looked a little concerned, but she waved him off._

" _Jennifer Webb. Nice to meet you."_

 _The Doctor took a moment to turn back to the other apparent prisoners and address a woman with green skin, who looked like some sort of police or military with her uniform. None of the other guests seemed to look very self-sufficient._

" _Shritka, can you take the others back to the hall? Make sure no one else wanders off. I'm going to keep looking around for a bit. Maybe get more of a sense of the layout of this place."_

" _Got it," the woman said shortly. "All right. Move out, slugs!"_

 _A few of the people gave Shritka a dirty look, but they followed her around the corner and out of sight. The Doctor flicked his sonic back on and started walking down the nearest offshoot hallway. Since he hadn't told her otherwise, Jen followed the man and tried to spot any clues about their whereabouts. There were none._

" _I guess you were able to find some sort of a base," she assumed._

" _Big room with beds, water, and food that comes out of a chute every few hours," he replied without hesitation._

" _No communication?"_

" _Nothing from inside or outside." They came to another split and went left. "Where you from, Jennifer Webb?"_

" _Earth. Human. 24." She hoped to find out where they were in his timeline._

" _Gallifrey. Time Lord. 905," he answered with a little smirk, his eyes dancing for no apparent reason. But he also seemed a bit sad._

 _One year before she was supposedly going to help him when he regenerated. She still wondered why._

" _Oy!" The screwdriver buzzed loudly and, sure enough, around the corner was a short human man with a bald patch wandering around in dusty overalls. The Doctor did a quick scan of him. "Where were you, Jeffrey? I thought I told you not to wander off."_

 _The older gentleman blinked in surprise, still looking at his surroundings._

" _I'm sorry. Who are you? Where am I? I was at work. Then, I was suddenly just with my family. Now I'm here. What's going on?"_

 _The Doctor looked at Jennifer in confusion._

" _Mr. Dottie, you were just_ _here_ _less than an hour ago. You were snatched up from work. Do you…not remember?"_

" _I've never seen this place in my life!"_

" _Well, I guess you can leave this place alive; you just lose your memory of it. Let's get him back to the others."_

* * *

 _Jennifer sat outside the living area with her power-bar-like rations, not wanting to deal with the other people. Her hunter instincts had started to kick in when a man who looked like a gremlin offered her some supper. Better to let sleeping dogs lie._

 _The Doctor suddenly plunked down on the floor in the hallway entrance across from her, checking his screwdriver before finally pocketing it._

" _How long do you have?"_

 _Jen looked at him, trying to decide how much to divulge. From the look on his face, his sonic must have detected that she was sick. If people really had their memories of this place wiped when they left, there was no reason to hide anything._

" _I don't know," she replied matter-of-factly. "But it gets worse every time I time-travel. I could be dead by tomorrow, for all I know."_

" _What happened?"_

" _Had a bad run-in with an alien that was trapped in the wrong time, and it tried to make a host out of me. It's dead now. Whatever it did, though, messed with me just enough to make things…a little different."_

 _He nodded._

" _I'm sorry."_

 _She shrugged._

" _I just need to stay in one place, but it's hard to quit. I don't have too many people to miss me." She took the opportunity to study this younger man as he did a quick count of their number again. There was something strangely magnetic about him that she couldn't pin down. When he thought no one was looking, there was a sort of power and gloom that hung on him like a veil. But, when he came back to their conversation, that childish gleam was back in his eyes. "Last time I saw you, you looked even younger."_

 _He raised an eyebrow, intrigued._

" _Have we met before? I think I'd remember_ you _."_

 _The Doctor flirting with her. That was certainly different._

" _I never really got to know you that well. It was just a lot of running – me going along for a ride in your mystical box and having the adventure of my life. Best time I've ever had," she recalled fondly before turning a little more serious. "Why are you traveling alone, Doctor?"_

 _The storm cloud in his eyes became more prominent as he thought of his answer._

" _I'm tired of seeing people I care about get hurt because they travel with me. I recently…lost a good friend. Oh, she's perfectly fine now. Just has no clue who I am anymore, no memory of being important. Feisty, though. Could sass anyone, given the opportunity."_

 _Jennifer tried to remember the stories she heard and records she had seen over the past few years._

" _Was it…Donna Noble?"_

" _That's the one." He smiled vaguely at a memory of his lost friend. "She lost so much because of me. I've been traveling on my own, at least for a while. It's...safer."_

 _Jen realized that she had never considered how truly lonely the Doctor was, for all his wisdom and spunk. Having a companion kept him in check, but, on his own, there was a bitter regret that haunted him. The last of his entire species. What pain he must feel._

 _She shot the Time Lord an encouraging smile as she swallowed the last bite of her rations._

" _Well, Doctor, you have a companion for the moment. And, according to circulating rumors, I won't remember any of this once we get out of here. So, feel free to tell me anything. I'm a dying woman. I've got nothin' to lose."_

 _The man nodded in thought._

" _Can I tell you something? I'm dying too." With that statement, the conversation took a darker turn. "Not from a sickness – I'm as healthy as horse. My death has been predicted to me over and over again. Fairly recently. I keep traveling. Hoping to avoid the inevitable, I suppose. Part of me knows it's almost pointless, but… There are so many lives I could still save; so many things I could still see"_

" _But…you're a Time Lord. You regenerate and can live for who knows how many centuries more. You can still do all of those things."_

" _Not the same man. I'm still the Doctor every time, but I'll be gone. Forever. Maybe it shouldn't scare me. But, when I regenerate, I_ die _. Or at least it feels like it. The person I am now will be just a memory. And I'm…not ready. I still have so much to atone for."_

 _Shaking his head at his own whining, the Doctor broke eye contact and looked back at the others. Suddenly, in seeing this open regret and the stifled fear, she could see._ _It wasn't just the Time Lord having a tantrum over not getting his way. After all he'd seen and done – all the loss – he didn't want to forget or lose his chance to make the universe better or fail to see everything he could. In a way, she could sympathize with having her impending death hanging over her, with no guarantee that she could finish any of the things she started. She finally felt that she was starting to understand why she was so determined to help the Doctor in the future. She saw the devastation of being the only one left; she now knew what it felt like to have death just over the horizon. This Doctor was a good man; he didn't deserve to die alone._

" _I'm not a Time Lord," she said at last, taking a pen and sticky-note pad out of her pocket, and making a note for herself. "I'm not the last of my species. I'm not even that important, in the grand scheme of things. But I love life and, at twenty-four years, I face the harsh reality of dying every day now. All I can do is make it count. Maybe I won't save the world or find a soulmate or grow old, but at least I can m_ _ake my mark in some way."_

" _Can I_ _see that?"_ _She removed the used note, stuffed it in her pocket with the other one, and handed the writing tools with the last sticky-note to her companion. "You may not think you're important, and you may forget all about this place..."_ _The Doctor scribbled something out and stuck it to the wall by his ear, looking back at her with a mischievous smirk. The woman grinned back at him upon seeing the note that read, **Jennifer Webb was here**_. _"But you have made your mark. It doesn't have to mean saving the world or being remembered by a million strangers. As long you lived your life to the best of your abilities and fought the good fight, you're a hero in your own right."_

" _You should consider taking your own advice."_

" _Maybe."_

 _He smiled at her words and offered to return the note, but she shook her head._

" _Keep it." He reluctantly put it in the pocket of his trenchcoat. "After all you've done for me over the years, the least I could do today is offer a listening ear. Maybe you'll find that note one day and see that I tried to return the favor. That's the most important legacy I could ever want."_

* * *

 _Research into inter-species behavior and interaction. Some scientific aliens who were snatching random people up from different times and places to conduct research. They kept the people caged in a maze to see how their social structures formed. After a few days for each person, they courteously dropped them off wherever they were 'needed', sometimes with a 'follow-up', as with the balding little man who had returned. Their memories were wiped and they were left none the wiser, if a bit confused. It was interesting, other than the fact that Jennifer wasn't at all in the state of mind to care._

 _Displeased with the entire situation, their group had managed to disable some of the food and light systems. Sure enough, a disembodied voice soon directed them to follow a trail of blinking lights down the halls to an emergency exit, where they would be 'processed' and returned to wherever they were required._

 _One by one, the others went through the blinding white doorway and disappeared, until it was only Jen and the Doctor left. She wondered where these aliens would spit her out. She hadn't been in the right place when they snatched her up to begin with, so she could end up anywhere._

 _The woman took her sweet time to inspect the doorway, suspicious about walking into the unknown, even if the Doctor said it was safe. She trusted him more than ever after spending almost every minute at his side during this adventure. She never remembered feeling so protective over the ageless alien._

" _I better get my gear back," she grumbled before looking at her friend. There was a mix of amusement and, as was common, regret in his expression. "It's been a fun few days, but I wish I could remember it."_

 _He looked around doubtfully._

" _Three days of wandering around and trashing a maze? Not too much to miss."_

" _Not that. I got to know you in this life, and don't want to forget it. I wish I could have traveled with you. Even if can't…you may die and regenerate, but you'll always have someone to watch your back. I don't know how many lives you've touched, but I would be dead or on a very dark path if it wasn't for you. I wish I could tell you how much it means to me, but...well, I'm not exactly the sentimental type."_

 _The Doctor didn't react at first, but a hint of a blush crept onto his cheeks, soon followed by a toothy grin. He seemed a little more hopeful at least since her arrival._

" _Awwww, come on. Give us a hug."_

 _After a moment, she rolled her eyes and covered the distance between them, hooking her chin on his shoulder._

" _Take care of yourself, Doctor."_

" _Good luck, Jennifer Webb. And thank you."_

 _Jennifer backed away towards the glowing doorway._

" _I'll be back to haunt you yet. See ya in about a year."_

 _With a wink at the bemused Time Lord, she stepped into the light. She understood now what she had to do, and why._


	10. Full Circle: Part 2

Full Circle: Part 2

 _She needed time to think. Why did she have to go back and babysit the Doctor before he switched faces? It still didn't make enough sense._

 _Jennifer stopped walking, feeling like she had forgotten something. Something big. Something…was in her pocket. A second folded-up note. Trying to remember when it had gotten there, she decided to look at whatever reminder it was. But…_

 _ **Help him. Don't let him be alone. After all he's done for you, he doesn't deserve to die in despair. Show him that he's made a mark. It's time.**_

 _Jennifer stared at the note in her own handwriting, grinding her teeth in annoyance. Why should she care about this face of the Doctor enough to just_ be _there? If she couldn't really_ do _anything, what was the point? Why did it mean so much to the Doctor?_

 _All right. Fine! She would do it already. But where to even start?_

 _Blood dripped from her nose onto the snow and she aggressively grabbed the clean handkerchief from her pocket to wipe it away. Only, there was already dried bloodstains on the fabric. And snow. Why was there snow on the ground?_

 _Jen dropped the note as she did a quick survey of her surroundings. City, night, dead of winter. This was definitely not 1940s London._

 _The woman pinned herself to the shadowy wall as she heard voices around the corner of the building. Maybe she could find out where she was._

" _What year is it?" a man with a pleasant British accent asked, perhaps less than ten feet away._

 _The smiling voice of a young woman replied,_

" _Blimey! How much have you had? 2005. January the first."_

" _2005\. Tell you what. I bet you're gonna have a really_ great _year."_

" _Yeah?" There was a pause, during which Jen peered around the brick wall…something about that woman's voice. "See ya!"_

 _Rose Tyler! She recognized that face from one of the images in the TARDIS from a day she had spent wandering its halls. Rose had been one of the Doctor's companions, but she vaguely recalled there being something different about her. Rose._

 _2005._

 _The sound of shuffling feet got closer and Jen flattened herself against the wall, putting a hand on her gun in case whoever it was attacked._

 _A tall man with brown hair and a trenchcoat passed by her into the empty street, and she watched skeptically in silence. Was this man drunk? He staggered along for a few feet before he collapsed, whimpering in agony._

" _We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep."_

 _Jen's focus shot for a moment to a figure that hadn't been there before – some strange alien with a lightbulb...thing in his hand - but it ignored her._

 _Her eyes caught sight of the note she had written, flitting about on the ground, and finally on the TARDIS on the other side of the silent intersection. And back to the Doctor curled up on the ground in pain. He looked up at the alien, his face painted with hurt and determination and despair. The alien just stood there, being no help at all as the Time Lord began to struggle back to his feet. He was dying. Alone._

 _ **1946 London. Doctor dying New Years 2005. 906.** _

_He was dying, and she owed him everything. If she helped him into that TARDIS, she was risking another trip in time – another chance of letting this sickness give the finishing blow. But she owed a debt._

 _Reluctantly, she stepped from her hiding place._

 _She wanted to tell him exactly why she was about to do this. Or at least make herself understand. But there was no time to explain. She didn't know him, but she wanted to. Those eyes, the pain, she wanted to understand. Time. She needed time._ _ **Use your head.**_ _She remembered her note from the market. Time, time…use her head. Of course._

 _Her slow, cautious approach toward the Doctor turned into a dive as he tripped on nothing. She caught him just in time. The fear practically radiated off of him. And was something else - fury and anger burning like the sun at how unfair this life was - even more than what she felt about her own impending doom._

 _ **Use your head.**_

 _Her future self meant her abilities, the ones from the same cursed entity that was causing her death even now. Last time, she had collapsed in agony. One more time could…_

 _She was being stupid and selfish. She could probably survive a dozen more trips. This was the Doctor; the face didn't matter. He was terrified. He needed to_ know _._

 _The Doctor grasped her arm like a lifeline and she braced herself._

 _She tried to think of somewhere safe and recent in her mind. The few other times she had done something like this, she appeared just as before she met the Doctor: brown short hair, no scars, innocent in comparison to now. She didn't know why._

1946 Earth. Same clothes. Same restaurant. Just as when the bowtie-wearing Doctor had taken her less than an hour previously.

"So, what do you think?" she asked the man across from her, proud of the flawless creation in her own imagination. The Doctor looked around in bewilderment and exclaimed an endearing,

"What?"

The other time-traveler laughed, sipped her coffee, and bit her bottom lip to hide her grin. He was actually pretty cute. Precious almost in how he didn't understand what was happening. She didn't know why, but something about this Doctor, even now, drew her to him.

"Something wrong, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked back at the woman with a slack jaw.

"Excuse me. Do I… Do I know you?"

Her grin appeared fully this time. Somewhere in this locked-away part of her consciousness, she got the feeling that she had met this version of the Doctor before – something that made her want to be there for him more than ever. But she couldn't pin it down.

"Not yet, that I know of."

"Brilliant. Another one."

"Ah! I suppose you met Professor Song?" The Doctor snarled in frustration and scrubbed at his thick hair. The woman cleared her throat to catch the waitress' attention. "Uh, two slices of apple pie, please. I love England, but there's somethin' about good ol' American pie that you can't find anywhere else."

The Doctor leaned back with a victorious smirk.

"You don't happen to know Captain Jack Harkness, do you?"

"Ha! The man just says 'hello' and you're a lost cause. I've been traveling with him a bit, actually." She failed to mention that he was trapped in the stocks when she saw him last.

"That's Jack." The pie arrived and Jen tried to think of how to make sense of all this. "I've seen you before."

"Maybe in a past life," she replied while chewing. "At least, that's what you told me. I think. It's all quite confusing. Now, eat your pie, sweet cheeks. On me." He just stared at her. "I won't answer any of your questions until you finish your pie, sir."

He begrudgingly obeyed, all the while studying his surroundings. Jen took the opportunity to study his face. His eyes were filled with so much regret! And there was something just...magnetic about him.

He pushed the plate away.

"Well, Time Lord, I guess you really want those answers. Shoot."

"Ten minutes ago –"

" – I saw you." He stared at her vain attempt to make him smile even a little. Tough crowd. "Just joking. Please continue."

"Ten. Minutes. Ago. I was _dying._ I was _regenerating._ But then…"

"Someone caught you? You suddenly woke up here?"

" _Exactly._ Care to explain?"

"Walk with me." She paid for the pie and led him onto the sidewalk. "Post World War Two. The future is bright and the streets… Well, the streets can be perfect or filthy, depending on where you go. Some people act like the world is safe; others are looking over their shoulders constantly." She suddenly stopped with her arms crossed. Exactly like what the future Doctor showed her on their little adventure. He remembered. Years from now, he would remember where she took his earlier incarnation and bring her to this place for old times' sake - at least for him. It was a little touching. "This is one of my favorite times on Earth. So much emotion. So much chaos. So much hope. And they're all so clueless. I use to be like that until… Sometimes, I wish…" ...that she wasn't dying, just like him. But she didn't say it. "Don't you ever wish you could be that innocent?"

The Doctor, hands in his pockets, tolerantly replied,

"Frequently. But, after all I've been through, I remember I did save some of them, and I try to convince myself that it's worth it."

"You've saved all of them, Doctor. Countless times. I've saved a few, but… Compared to you, I'm an insect."

The Doctor breathed a laugh.

"I have yet to meet someone who actually has that little meaning. How do you go about saving people? Do you destroy planets, like I've done?"

"Oh, no, nothing so drastic," she waved him off.

"Come on! You're one of those rash Americans. You people are more than happy to shoot first and save people later."

"Please. Don't let the stereotype fool you. There are plenty of Americans who think the cops will save them from anything, anywhere, and anytime." She winked mischievously. "I, however, happen to know that monsters are real. I did almost get arrested a little while ago, but that's for another time – fortieth century – bad business."

"Who _are_ you? And what are we doing here?"

Her smile went crooked and she looked at the ground at how desperate he seemed. She cared about the Doctor and she owed him her life, but she had never seen him like this – such guilt and fear! This was why he needed someone now, even if he didn't understand yet.

"Determined, aren't you? You saved me once or twice– a long time ago, far in the future. You were there for me when I suddenly found myself completely alone – you saved me – and it's time I returned that favor. Took me long enough. You told me a little secret, Doctor – how terrified you were to die alone today. Of all of the times you changed faces, you said that this one was perhaps the hardest. While, in the future, you won't see it the same… There were so many times when you wouldn't have time to really dwell on the fact that you were dying; and you so often had your companions with you. But, this time, you get dosed with radiation that kills you slowly enough for you to visit a good many of your companions. And you still die alone. Don't tell me I'm wrong."

"Who _are_ you?" he protested.

"But even through all of this – your grief, your pain – you show your true colors, Doctor. You saved an entire civilization and, perhaps, the universe from the chaos of the Time War without even a thank you. And you survived. But then you gave your life…for one old man." It amazed her, after hearing about all these events, actually seeing the after-effects. This practically immortal man was so susceptible to the same fear, yet he never wasted a moment. And he wanted more. "Never cruel nor cowardly."

"This place – it's not real, is it?"

She shrugged.

"It's in my head, but I needed somewhere we could talk where time didn't matter so much for you. I'm sorry, but… The reality is that you're still lying in the snow, dying in my arms."

"Why are you here?"

The woman held out her hand and waited until he took it. Even if she sacrificed her life for this, it was worth it. This small legacy.

"Because I don't want you to die alone, Doctor. Now, come along."

 _The strange alien was still just standing there was the two travelers came back to reality. Jennifer could already feel the pain and nausea from the effort that mental conversation took, but she pushed past it and yanked the Doctor to his feet._

 _Eyes locked on the TARDIS, she securely wrapped his arm over her shoulder and acted as his crutch to reach the ship. Once the door was closed behind them, she let him continue forward on his own. She stood there, just to be there. That was what he needed. Not to be alone._

" _The regeneration can be dangerous," he advised, glancing up from the console. "It might not be safe for you."_

 _Jen sniffed a laugh and tapped on the vortex manipulator on her wrist. She was dead anyway._

" _It's only dangerous if you're not trying to protect someone. But I'll be long gone before this place goes up in flames. Besides, I shouldn't be the first face you see. Technically, I shouldn't have been the last face you saw, but…oh well!"_

 _The TARDIS was off and she could see the effects of his regeneration as a golden residue started hovering from his skin._

" _Why?" he questioned, his voice empty._

 _He looked back one last time and Jen offered a hopefully encouraging smile. But her hands were already shaking from the pain she was trying not to show._

" _Trust me, you will be remembered. Goodbye, Doctor. I wish I could see this you during happier times, but…I suppose we'll run into each other again, in another life."_

" _I understand, but still…" The Doctor raised his hand up, staring somberly as it started. The lonely angel he was indeed. "I don't even know your name."_

 _All of the searching he would apparently do and the relief she remembered when the raggedy Doctor finally found out who she was came crawling the forefront of her mind. She did matter, at least to him._

 _The woman quickly inputted the coordinates she needed._

" _You'll find out eventually. I wish I could stay, but I…I can't. I know you're scared, but you're going to be_ brilliant _. See you around, Doctor. And let me just say...thank you. For everything."_

 _The Doctor looked up to thank the mysterious lady, but she had disappeared. He didn't get the chance to tell her that she had given him just enough strength and courage to face what was to come. No more despair. But still…_

 _"I don't want to go."_

* * *

 _Inter-planetary market. There was the TARDIS and the Doctor and his companions when they were together and happy._

 _"Sorry, do I know you?" her past self questioned as the Doctor grabbed her arm._

 _"I'm…the Doctor."_

 _Jennifer followed her younger form around a few corners and laughed to herself as she grabbed the old note from her jacket and stuffed it into the other girl's hands before walking away._

 _Her head felt like it was going to explode as she typed in the last coordinates._

 _2000s. America._

* * *

 _Bracing herself had done nothing for the earth-shattering agony Jennifer experienced when she finally landed in a dusty old parking lot. Dragging the knife from her belt, she destroyed vortex manipulator and turned it into unrecognizable piece of junk before tossing it aside and letting herself collapse in the sun._

 _She didn't know why that had mattered. But it did. For the Doctor, it was worth it. Through the booming pain spreading from her head, her churning stomach, and the blood running down the back of her throat, she kept telling herself that her debt with the Doctor was paid. Whatever happened would happen. She fought the good fight._

 _Blinking in the sun, Jennifer considered the possibility that she was going to die, and it didn't scare her. But she had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time she saw the lonely Time Lord._

 _The crunching of boots vaguely alerted the woman to someone's presence. A grizzly old man with a shotgun appeared, studying her from under his baseball cap._

" _I'm guessin' you could use a little help," he drawled. "You a hunter?"_

 _With a relieved nod, Jennifer closed her eyes and let the darkness take her._


	11. Legacy

Last bit of a chapter. I hope you have enjoyed this story, as I had plenty of fun writing it. For Supernatural fans, I will be writing a companion/sequel story to this one, likely to be titled _Watcher of Angels_. I should be putting up chapters within the next few weeks, so please keep an eye out! And please do review!

Legacy

I grew up on Earth – a fairly normal existence. I went to school and had a wonderful future ahead of me. But then, of course, what would a good story be without some tragedy occurring? Personally, I would have been perfectly pleased to not have a story worth telling, but fate wouldn't have it. Apparently.

My parents were killed when I was a teenager, leaving me and my big sister alone. A normal sixteen- and nineteen-year-old might have had problems with having a home, money, and education after that, but not us. We didn't have the chance. The creatures that had killed our parents chased us across two states before catching up to us. We killed them.

And we kept killing after that. Simple. We became hunters of evil, and we were good at it. My sister was better than me; she had made hunting the unnatural her occupation right out of high school. I caught up eventually, though. We were the perfect team.

That was a long time ago. Since then, I lost my sister to the same creatures that killed the rest of my family. I've traveled the stars and seen things that most people wouldn't believe. I try to tell myself that never hearing that hopeful, whining sound of the TARDIS will be okay, but it's not. But I still see him on occasion. A few different faces in passing. But I know that they're an old face from a time when the Doctor wasn't supposed to find me. I would have loved to be best friends with the Raggedy Doctor or the Time Lord Victorious, but being best friends with the Doctor was never my role.

I played my part and had my time. And I wouldn't trade even a single moment of what I had, even if it meant being with that madman for half a lifetime. Some things like that just aren't meant to be. I had my time, and he will move on. It comforts me to know that, even if he didn't know me as well as I would have liked, I was able to be there for him when he would otherwise have had no one. Maybe he didn't know me, but I knew him, as strange as it was. All that pain I saw in those ancient eyes. He may have been a different person, but he was still the Doctor in that moment.

I could still see that tripping chin boy dancing around with a fez perched on his head. I could still see that old man with the owl-like eyebrows. He was always the Doctor, no matter how unfamiliar he seemed when he changed faces. It was a different mind, but, as strange as it was, it was the same soul. Even though my encounters with him were brief, he gave me memories of a thousand lifetimes and made me feel like I mattered. He taught me to make each moment count, even as I saw him in a moment where he forgot. Because, if the fear gets ahold of you, it's hard to let go.

There was no single face that I loved more than the others. The Doctor _was_ my Doctor.

After my trip to Hell, I traveled with him for a bit. Made some priceless memories. Clara and I became good friends, and the three of us faced all sorts of adventures together. After running with the Doctor for a couple years, I finally decided it was time for me to go back to the real world for good. He dropped me off a little over a week after the last time in 2008, when I sat curled up against a wall of a gas station, remembering bits and pieces of the torture I faced in Hell. But I was better because of him. I needed a Doctor at that moment. And there he was.

Life is a little different now without the Doctor, back on Earth, picking up the life I abandoned. The rules are different. The game is different. But there's still an awful lot of running.

Just never let him see the damage.


End file.
